Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates
Qatar
Kuwait
Oman
Bahrain
Jordan
Iraq
Lebanon
Syria
Palestine
Egypt
Sudan
Yemen
Morocco
Algeria
Tunisia
Libya
Mauritania
Somalia
Djibouti
ComorosLiving in Syria in figures: income, prices and jobs
12 World Bank indicators for Syria, read in plain English, with how each has moved over about ten years. Useful context if you are weighing a job or a move there.
Average income per person in Syria is about $88 a month (2022). Prices are about 78% lower than in the United States, so that income buys about as much as $409 a month would there. Unemployment is 13.6%, and 33.1% among young people. Over the last decade, real income per person (after inflation) fell 37.2% between 2012 and 2022, unemployment fell 0.7 points and life expectancy rose by 7.1 years.
12 figures that describe life in Syria
The economy produces about $1,057 a year per resident, roughly $88 a month per person. This is an average, not what each person earns.
Adjusted for local prices, that buys about as much as $4,905 a year would at US prices.
Prices overall are about 78% lower than in the United States: what costs $100 there costs the equivalent of about $22 here.
Of every 100 people looking for work, about 13.6 cannot find a job.
Among young people (15 to 24) looking for work, about 33.1 in 100 have no job.
Prices rose 13.4% in the latest year available.
A Gini index of 26.4 out of 100: income is spread fairly evenly.
About 18 in every 100 people live on less than $3 a day (the World Bank's extreme poverty line).
A child born today lives 72.6 years on average.
About 12.7 in every 100 women over 15 work or are looking for work.
About 3.4 in every 10 people use the internet.
More migrants arrive than leave (a net 421,693 people a year).
The arrow compares the latest value with its value about 10 years earlier: green is better, red is worse. Ranks and averages are among the 23 Arab countries on this site.
Is living standard rising? Real income per person since 1990
Income per person with inflation removed (constant 2015 US dollars), so it measures real improvement rather than rising prices.
Unemployment over the years
Life expectancy
And your own salary?
The figures above are national averages. On a gross salary worth $2,000 a month, an expat in Syria keeps about $1,596 after income tax and social insurance.
Frequently asked questions
What is life like in Syria, in figures?
Average income per person in Syria is about $88 a month (2022). Prices are about 78% lower than in the United States, so that income buys about as much as $409 a month would there. Unemployment is 13.6%, and 33.1% among young people. Over the last decade, real income per person (after inflation) fell 37.2% between 2012 and 2022, unemployment fell 0.7 points and life expectancy rose by 7.1 years.
Is Syria expensive to live in?
Prices overall are about 78% lower than in the United States: what costs $100 there costs the equivalent of about $22 here. Adjusted for local prices, that buys about as much as $4,905 a year would at US prices. Figures for 2022 from the World Bank.
What is the average income per person in Syria?
The economy produces about $1,057 a year per resident, roughly $88 a month per person. This is an average, not what each person earns. (2022). This is the size of the economy divided by the population, not the average salary. To work out a specific salary after tax, use the salary calculator.
Is the economy in Syria improving or declining?
Mixed picture: Real income per person (after inflation) fell 37.2% between 2012 and 2022, unemployment fell 0.7 points and life expectancy rose by 7.1 years.
What is the unemployment rate in Syria?
Of every 100 people looking for work, about 13.6 cannot find a job. Among young people (15 to 24) looking for work, about 33.1 in 100 have no job. (International Labour Organization estimates, 2025).
Sources
- GDP per capita (current US$)
- GDP per capita, PPP (current international $)
- Price level index (GDP), United States = 100
- Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (modeled ILO estimate)
- Unemployment, youth total (% of total labor force ages 15-24) (modeled ILO estimate)
- Inflation, consumer prices (annual %)
- Gini index
- Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population)
- Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
- Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+) (modeled ILO estimate)
- Individuals using the Internet (% of population)
- Net migration
- GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$)
- GDP growth (annual %)
- Population, total
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators, data last updated 13 July 2026.
We show the figures as the World Bank publishes them, without adjustment. National averages do not reflect differences between cities and people.
Send it to someone who needs it
Share this page in a second, or add the site to your phone so it opens with one tap, like an app.
On iPhone: tap Share in the browser, then "Add to Home Screen".
Bookmark it: Ctrl + D
Follow us on InstagramFacebook