Inflation in Sudan is the Highest Among Arab Countries
Source: Al-Arab London
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released new data for 2024 outlining inflation rate projections for Arab countries in 2025. The data reveals significant disparities in anticipated inflation rates across the region.
According to the report, Sudan is expected to lead the Middle East and North Africa in inflation rates, which are projected to reach record highs due to the ongoing war since April 2023, further scarring an economy already paralyzed.
The ongoing conflict has dealt a severe blow to an already strained economy, weakened by years of wars and isolation, with continued bank closures, disrupted import and export activities, a collapsing Sudanese pound, and deteriorating purchasing power among citizens.
Soaring prices, driven by a plummeting local currency, internal strife, and halted international donor support, have pushed Sudan’s inflation rates to alarming levels.
IMF experts analyzed Sudans economic situation amid the conflict in 2023 and 2024, basing their projections for 2025 on three key economic performance indicators: GDP growth rates, inflation rates, and unemployment rates.
The IMF forecasts that Sudan will record the highest inflation rate in the Arab region in 2025, estimated at approximately 119%, although this marks a decrease from the current years level of around 200%.
In a report prepared for the annual fall meetings in Washington, titled "World Economic Outlook," the international donor institution discussed Sudan’s inflation in 2023.
The report specified that inflation reached 77.2% during that year, taking into account that the war began after the first quarter of the fiscal year.
However, the IMF expects inflation to surge to 200.1% by the end of this year, reflecting an annual increase of about 123%.
IMF experts also suggested that 2025 could see some economic relief if a ceasefire is achieved, with projected growth reaching 8.3%.
The war has destroyed industrial zones, markets, and livelihoods in the capital, Khartoum, and many other cities across the country, pushing millions of Sudanese into poverty due to disruptions in their businesses and trades.
Approximately one-third of Sudans 46 million people rely on humanitarian aid. The United Nations World Food Programme has warned that the war has pushed the country to the "brink of collapse," with the vast majority of the population experiencing hunger.
Consumer Protection Agency head Nasr Eldin Shulgami has repeatedly stated that the agency faces difficulties addressing risks from smuggled and unidentified goods circulating in markets after entering from neighboring countries.
