Editing Economy of Syria (section)

== History ==

Since the establishment of the [[First Syrian Republic]] in 1946, the economy has undergone many structural and other changes.<ref name=":3">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Syria: a country study|publisher=[[Federal Research Division]], [[Library of Congress]]|location=Washington, D.C.|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/87600488/|last=Boris|first=Rhonda E.|date=1988|editor-last=Collelo|editor-first=Thomas|pages=107–110|oclc=44250830|postscript=. {{PD-notice}}|entry=The Economy}}</ref> Although the presence of the [[Allies of World War II|Allied forces]] during [[World War II]] stimulated commerce by providing markets for agriculture, textiles, and other locally manufactured goods, Syria lacked both the infrastructure and the resources to achieve economic prosperity.<ref name=":3" /> Agriculture, which had played a key role in the economy, became a factor in  industrial expansion as  landowners channeled profits from agricultural exports into agroindustrial and related urban enterprises.<ref name=":3" /> The population, working under [[land tenure]] and [[sharecropping]] arrangements, derived few benefits from the agriculturally induced economic growth of the 1950s.<ref name=":3" /> However, [[United Arab Republic|Syria's union with Egypt]] (1958–61) and the rise of the [[Ba'ath Party|Baath Party]] as the major political force in the country in the 1960s, transformed Syria's economic orientation and development strategy.<ref name=":3" />
[[File:GDP per capita development of Syria.svg|thumb|Historical development of real GDP per capita in Syria, since 1820]]
=== 1960s–1970s: State-led development ===
By the mid-1960s, government-sponsored [[land reform]] and [[nationalization]] of major industries and foreign investments had confirmed the new [[Socialism|socialist]] direction of Syria's economic policy.<ref name=":3" /> As the state assumed greater control over economic decision-making by adopting [[Planned economy|centralized planning]] and strictly regulating commercial transactions, Syria experienced a substantial loss of skilled workers, administrators, and their capital.<ref name=":3" /> Despite the political upheavals, which undermined the confidence of landowners, merchants, and industrialists, the state successfully implemented large-scale development projects to expand industry, agriculture, and infrastructure.<ref name=":3" />

During the 1970s, Syria achieved high rates of economic growth.<ref name=":3" /> The [[1973 oil crisis|dramatic rise of world oil prices]] from 1973 to 1974 led to increased production from domestic [[Oil refinery|refineries]].<ref name=":3" /> Moreover, higher prices for agricultural and oil exports, as well as the state's limited [[economic liberalization]] policy, encouraged growth.<ref name=":3" /> Also, Syria's economic boom was furthered by increased [[remittance]]s from Syrians working in the oil-rich Arab states and higher levels of Arab and other [[Aid|foreign aid]].<ref name=":3" /> By the end of the decade, the Syrian economy had shifted from its traditional agrarian base to an economy dominated by the service, industrial, and commercial sectors.<ref name=":3" /> Massive expenditures for development of irrigation, electricity, water, road building projects, irisin plants and expansion of health services and education to rural areas contributed to prosperity.<ref name=":3" /> However, the economy remained dependent on foreign aid and grants to finance the growing deficits both in the budget and in trade.<ref name=":3" /> Syria, as a front-line state in the [[Arab–Israeli conflict|Arab-Israeli conflict]], was also vulnerable to the vagaries of Middle East politics, relying on Arab aid transfers and [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] assistance to support mounting defense expenditures.<ref name=":3" />

=== 1980s: Crisis and austerity ===
By the mid-1980s, the country's economic climate had shifted from prosperity to austerity.<ref name=":3" /> Syria's economic boom collapsed as a result of the rapid fall of world oil prices, lower export revenues, drought affecting agricultural production, and falling worker remittances.<ref name=":3" /> Also, Arab aid levels decreased because of economic retrenchment in the oil-producing states and Syrian support for Iran in the [[Iran–Iraq War|Iran-Iraq War]].<ref name=":3" /> Real per capita GDP fell 22% between 1982 and 1989.<ref name="fred.stlouisfed.org">{{cite web|date=January 1960|title=Purchasing Power Parity Converted GDP per Capita (Chain Series) for Syria|url=https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/RGDPCHSYA625NUPN|access-date=25 October 2018|website=Purchasing Power Parity Converted GDP Per Capita (Chain Series) for Syria|publisher=FRED Economic Data: Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis}}</ref> To restore the economy, the government sharply reduced spending, cut back imports, encouraged more private sector and foreign investment, and launched an anticorruption campaign against smugglers and black-market money changers.<ref name=":3" /> However, massive defense outlays continued to divert resources from productive investments.<ref name=":3" />

By the late 1980s, spot shortages of basic commodities occurred frequently, and industry operated far below capacity because of routine power outages.<ref name=":3" /> Foreign exchange reserves plummeted, the trade deficit widened, and real gross domestic product growth fell as economic difficulties compounded.<ref name=":3" /> Although the government instituted limited reforms to respond to the burgeoning crisis, Syria's pressing economic problems required a radically restructured economic policy to improve future economic performance.<ref name=":3" />

=== 1990s–2000s: Liberalization and privatization ===
In 1990, the Assad government instituted a series of economic reforms, although the economy remained highly regulated.<ref name="Central Intelligence Agency">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/syria/ |website=CIA World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=25 October 2018|title=Middle East :: Syria – the World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency }}</ref> The Syrian economy experienced strong growth throughout the 1990s, and into the 2000s.<ref name="fred.stlouisfed.org" /> Syria's per capita GDP was US$4,058 in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |title=Purchasing Power Parity Converted GDP per Capita, G-K method, at current prices for Syria |url=https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PPCGDPSYA620NUPN |website=FRED Economic Data |publisher=Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis |access-date=25 October 2018|date=January 1960 }}</ref> There is no authoritative GDP data available after 2012, due to Syria's civil war.<ref name="Central Intelligence Agency" />

Following his assumption of power in 2000, [[Bashar al-Assad]] sought to frame his leadership around modernizing and opening the economy. He emphasized, in particular, "the need to modernize the regulatory environment and the industrial base, activate and encourage the private sector, remove bureaucratic obstacles to investment, increase job opportunities, qualify cadres, improve education and expand information technology."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Perthes|first=Volker|title=Syria under Bashar al-Asad:Modernisation and the Limits of Change|publisher=Routledge|year=2005|isbn=9780198567509|pages=32}}</ref> While the government's [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] reforms indeed contributed to ramping up trade and invigorating the private sector, these were accompanied by rising inequality, declining public services, and increasingly overt forms of corruption, which ultimately helped fuel protests in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-07-06|title=Popular Protest in North Africa and the Middle East (VI): The Syrian People's Slow-motion Revolution|url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/eastern-mediterranean/syria/popular-protest-north-africa-and-middle-east-vi-syrian-people-s-slow-motion-revolution|access-date=2021-11-22|website=Crisis Group|language=en}}</ref> In one example of this trend, the Syrian Agricultural Workers Union complained in February 2011 that state mismanagement and the lifting of input subsidies was exacerbating the impact of drought on Syria's agricultural sector.<ref>{{Cite web|date=22 February 2011|title=End of Subsidies Main Reason behind Decline of Agriculture Output, Workers Union Says|url=https://syria-report.com/news/end-of-subsidies-main-reason-behind-decline-of-agriculture-output-workers-union-says/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-11-22|website=Syria Report|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122151623/https://syria-report.com/news/end-of-subsidies-main-reason-behind-decline-of-agriculture-output-workers-union-says/ |archive-date=22 November 2021 }}</ref>

Before the civil war, the two main pillars of the Syrian economy were agriculture and oil, which together accounted for about one-half of [[GDP]]. Agriculture, for instance, accounted for about 26% of GDP and employed 25% of the total labor force.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/emergencies/resources/documents/resources-detail/en/c/878213/|title=Counting the Cost: Agriculture in Syria after six years of crisis : FAO in Emergencies|website=fao.org|language=en|access-date=2018-04-28|archive-date=5 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505205244/http://www.fao.org/emergencies/resources/documents/resources-detail/en/c/878213/|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, poor climatic conditions and severe [[drought]] badly affected the agricultural sector, reducing its share in the economy to about 17% of 2008 GDP, down from 20.4% in 2007, according to preliminary data from the Central Bureau of Statistics. On the other hand, higher crude oil prices countered declining oil production and led to higher budgetary and export receipts.<ref name="USState2010">{{cite news|title=Background Note: Syria, September 2010|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/syria/158703.htm|newspaper=US State Department – Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs|access-date=24 June 2017}}</ref>

=== 2011–present: Syria's civil war ===
Since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, the Syrian economy has been affected by [[Sanctions against Syria|economic sanctions]] restricting trade with the [[Arab League]],<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15901360 |title=Syria unrest: Arab League adopts sanctions in Cairo |publisher= BBC |date=27 November 2011|access-date=24 August 2012}}</ref> [[Australia]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-25/australia-ramps-up-sanctions-on-syria/4089630 |title=Australia Ramps Up Sanctions on Syria |newspaper=ABC News |publisher= ABC |date=25 June 2012|access-date=24 August 2012}}</ref> [[Canada]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-imposing-further-sanctions-on-syria-1.1085745 |title=Canada imposing further sanctions on Syria |publisher= CBS |date=23 December 2011|access-date=24 August 2012}}</ref> the [[European Union]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9413504/EU-preparing-new-Syrian-sanctions.html |title=EU Preparing New Syrian Sanctions |newspaper= The Daily Telegraph |date=19 July 2012|access-date=24 August 2012}}</ref> (as well as the European countries of [[Albania]],<ref name="Georgia Times"/> [[Iceland]],<ref name="Georgia Times"/> [[Liechtenstein]],<ref name="Georgia Times"/> [[Moldova]],<ref name="Georgia Times"/> [[Montenegro]],<ref name="Georgia Times"/> [[North Macedonia]],<ref name="Georgia Times"/> [[Norway]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tnp.no/norway/politics/3098-norway-aligns-itself-with-tougher-eu-sanctions-against-syria |title=Norway Aligns Itself with Tougher EU Sanctions against Syria |publisher=The Nordic Page |date=26 July 2011 |access-date=24 August 2012 |archive-date=30 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830023743/http://www.tnp.no/norway/politics/3098-norway-aligns-itself-with-tougher-eu-sanctions-against-syria |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Serbia]],<ref name="Georgia Times"/> and [[Switzerland]]),<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-switzerland-idUSBRE87D0S120120814 |title= Swiss broaden sanctions against Syria |work= Reuters |date= 14 August 2012 |access-date= 24 August 2012 |archive-date= 24 September 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150924170132/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/14/us-syria-crisis-switzerland-idUSBRE87D0S120120814 |url-status= live }}</ref> [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]],<ref name="Georgia Times">{{cite web|url=http://www.georgiatimes.info/en/news/78944.html|title=Georgia joins EU sanctions against Syria|work=Georgia Times|date=8 August 2012|access-date=24 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513183919/http://www.georgiatimes.info/en/news/78944.html|archive-date=13 May 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Japan]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rttnews.com/1918142/japan-imposes-new-sanctions-on-syria.aspx |title=Japan Imposes New Sanctions on Syria |publisher= RTT |date=6 July 2012|access-date=25 August 2012}}</ref> [[South Korea]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/south-korea-sanctions-taiwanese-syrian-firms-weapons-trade-north-1984966|title=South Korea Sanctions Taiwanese, Syrian Firms For Weapons Trade with the North|website=[[International Business Times]]|date=26 June 2015|access-date=30 August 2018}}</ref> [[Taiwan]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201804140020.aspx|title=Taiwan supports sanctions against Syria for chemical attacks: MOFA – Politics – FOCUS TAIWAN – CNA ENGLISH NEWS|date=14 April 2018 |access-date=30 August 2018}}</ref> [[Turkey]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/world/middleeast/turkey-intensifies-sanctions-against-syrian-regime.html |title=Turkey Moves to Intensify Sanctions Against Syria |newspaper= New York Times |date=30 November 2011|access-date=24 August 2012}}</ref> and the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/04/29/executive-order-13572-blocking-property-certain-persons-respect-human-ri |title= United States trade and financial sanctions against syria |access-date=24 August 2012|via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |date= 29 April 2011 }}</ref> Sanctions against Syria were further extended by the US [[Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act]] that came into force in June 2020.

The destruction and dislocation associated with the civil war have devastated Syria's economy. By the end of 2013, the UN estimated total economic damage from the Syrian Civil War at $143&nbsp;billion.<ref>[http://www.publicfinanceinternational.org/news/2014/06/un-highlights-economic-damage-of-syrian-conflict/ UN highlights economic damage of Syrian conflict] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513053427/http://www.publicfinanceinternational.org/news/2014/06/un-highlights-economic-damage-of-syrian-conflict/ |date=13 May 2015 }} Public Finance International</ref> In 2018, the World Bank estimated that about one-third of Syria's housing stock and one half of its health and education facilities have been destroyed by the conflict. According to the World Bank, a cumulative total of $226 billion in GDP was lost due to the conflict from 2011 to 2016.<ref>{{cite web |title=Syria: Overview |url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/syria/overview |publisher=World Bank |access-date=25 October 2018}}</ref>

The Syrian economy suffered from conflict-related [[hyperinflation]]. The Syrian annual inflation rate is one of the highest in the world.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/syria/|title=The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|website=cia.gov|language=en|access-date=2018-04-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/syrias-other-problem-inflation|title=Syria's Other Problem: Inflation|last=Asia|first=Steve H. Hanke This article appeared in the October 2013 issue of Globe|date=2013-09-26|website=Cato Institute|language=en|access-date=2018-04-15}}</ref> The national currency, the [[Syrian pound]], tumbled in mid-2020 against the US dollar, therefore stating that Syrian economy was only taking a turn for the worst. The pound, which traded at LS&nbsp;47 to the dollar before the 2011 uprising, plunged to over LS&nbsp;3,000 to the dollar. Prices of basic goods have skyrocketed and some staples have disappeared from the market as merchants and the public struggled to keep up with the rising cost of living.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.theage.com.au/world/middle-east/bashar-al-assad-fires-his-pm-amid-worsening-economic-crisis-20200612-p55214.html| title = Bashar al- Assad fires his PM amid worsening economic crisis| date = 12 June 2020}}</ref>

In 2022, Syria joined the Chinese [[Belt and Road Initiative]], which could help the country rebuild its war-torn infrastructure and economy.<ref>{{cite web|author=Siddiqi, Ali |date=2022   |title="China's 'Belt and Road' Risk in Syria May Reap Big Rewards"|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/china-s-belt-and-road-risk-in-syria-may-reap-big-rewards-/6415768.html | publisher= VOA News |access-date= 9 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=O'Connor, Tom |date=2022 |title="Syria Officially Joins China's Belt and Road, Seeking Lifeline to Defy U.S. Sanctions" |url=https://www.newsweek.com/syria-officially-joins-chinas-belt-road-seeking-lifeline-defy-us-sanctions-1668849/ |publisher=Newsweek |access-date=9 September 2022 |archive-date=21 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921235604/https://www.newsweek.com/syria-officially-joins-chinas-belt-road-seeking-lifeline-defy-us-sanctions-1668849 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Following the end of Bashar Al-asad regime and the civil war, the interim government appointed for the first time in history a woman as governor of the central bank. [[Maysaa Sabreen]] was announced as the new governor on December 30, 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Maysaa Sabrine Takes the Helm at Syrian Central Bank {{!}} Headlines |url=https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/3210472-maysaa-sabrine-takes-the-helm-at-syrian-central-bank |access-date=2024-12-30 |website=Devdiscourse |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Syrias new rulers appoint Maysaa Sabrine as central bank governor |url=https://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/middleeastnews/827410/syrias-new-rulers-appoint-maysaa-sabrine-as-central-bank-governor/en |access-date=2024-12-30 |website=LBCIV7 |language=en}}</ref> 20 days before on the 10 December [[Basel Abdul Hannan]] became Minister of the Economy, In his new role, he announced plans to implement [[Economic liberalization|market liberalization]] reforms, including dismantling the existing import-export control system and moving toward a [[Free market|free-market]] economic model. During a meeting with the Damascus Chambers of Commerce, he outlined plans to remove restrictions on imports and allow registered businesses to trade more freely.<ref name="reuters-econ" />