Cost Of Baking Bread Doubles In Iran Amid Anti-Government Protests

Amid nationwide antigovernment protests with no end in sight, officials have announced that the cost of baking bread has doubled in the country. 

The head of bakeries union, Mohammad Soleimani, told ILNA Saturday that the costs of labor, raw materials including oil, and other additives increased significantly, but the price of basic bread did not go up accordingly.

He said that more and more people are replacing many other foodstuff with bread given food price inflation, adding that the increasing prices for pasta and grains have led to the rise in bread consumption. 

In response to a question about long queues at bakeries, he said the prices of traditional breads have not increased contrary to other types, so the consumption of traditional bread has increased by 30 percent. 

The administration of Ebrahim Raisi increased the price of flour 10-fold this year, but claimed that the price of items made from flour will not increase. The price hike was a result of a government decision to scrap the subsidy for imported wheat, flour and other essential items.

Annual food inflation has reached 100 percent in parts of Iran, according to the latest figures published by the Statistical Center of Iran. The overall nationwide point-to-point annual food inflation rate in June 2022 compared with the same period in 2021 was 87 percent, SCI reported in August, but in four provinces the rate reached almost 100 percent.