Damascus has announced new cuts to subsidies on bread, in another blow to impoverished Syrian families facing a growing food security crisis. The Ministry of Economy and Industry’s decision, which came into effect on June 20, reduces the number of loaves in a standard portion from ten to eight.
Although a standard bundle of the vital commodity stays at the same total weight and price, the move follows a decision on May 9 to reduce the weight of a batch from 1,200 grams to 1,050, while maintaining the price and number of loaves.
The Ministry said the moves come in response to rising production costs, and aim to alleviate the burden on bakeries while preserving access to bread without imposing extra costs on the consumer. Faced with ever-rising operating expenses, the Ministry had two options: raise the final retail price, or reduce the bundle’s total weight. It opted to reduce the loaf count while maintaining the bundle’s weight and price.
The decisions have sparked discontent among Syrians facing difficult living conditions and spiraling prices on basic goods. The moves will particularly impact low-income families who rely on bread as a vital staple food.
The cuts are part of a long-term trend of gradual cutbacks by the Syrian government since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. This began with the decoupling of bread distribution from the “smart card” system, which saw the price of a bread bundle jump from 400 to 4,000 Syrian pounds, which was followed by a string of further reductions. In February 2025, the Ministry of Internal Trade lowered the weight of a standard batch of bread to 1,200 grams; in October that year, the Syrian Establishment for Bakeries announced it would cut the number of loaves per bundle from 12 to 10.
Consequently, in less than a year and half, the weight of a standard bundle of subsidized bread has dropped from 1,500 grams to around 1,000 grams, while the price has remained fixed at 4,000 pounds. This reflects a major cut to in-kind subsidies provided to Syrians, even if the nominal price has stayed the same.
The trend is not limited to bread. It comes as the government faces mounting financial and economic pressures, alongside steadily rising production and operating costs. All this has compelled Damascus to seek out ways to cut public spending on subsidies while maintaining price stability as much as possible.
The cut in bread subsidies is mainly driven by a decline in domestic wheat production, which has fallen by around 40% to leave an estimated deficit of approximately 2.74 million tons, in a country that requires about four million tons of the grain annually. This has made it difficult to maintain previous bread distribution levels.
The gradual reduction of state subsidies on bread also coincides with a decline in international humanitarian funding for Syria. This includes the World Food Programme (WFP) cutting part of its food assistance due to funding shortages, with a 50% reduction in emergency food aid in Syria announced in May. Such measures have exacerbated cost-of-living pressures on the most vulnerable groups. In a June report entitled “Hunger Hotspots,” the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and WFP listed Syria among several countries likely to see further deterioration in their food security in the near future.
The reduction of government bread subsidies is a good measure of the Syrian state’s capacity to manage this scarcity, in light of declining domestic production, hampered import capabilities, and weak humanitarian funding.
All of this highlights the need for an integrated socio-economic policy. The gradual removal of direct subsidies must be grounded in a comprehensive strategic vision that serves the national interest and benefits all segments of society. This requires balancing the demands of economic reform and fiscal sustainability against the need to ensure that essential goods continue reach the most needy.
Furthermore, it requires boosting domestic agricultural production, particularly of wheat, as well as improving the efficiency of resource and subsidy management, and developing social safety nets for the poor and vulnerable to safeguard food security and social stability.