Syria fuel price hikes test public patience with economic recovery

Anger rises in Syrian cities as fuel price hikes burden struggling households amid an ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

A protester in Aleppo burns tyres on the highway between Aleppo and Turkey to protest rising fuel prices in Syria, September 13, 2026 [Mahmoud Hassano/Reuters]

The sight of protesters blocking roads and burning tyres on the streets of several Syrian cities and towns has highlighted popular anger over a government decision to increase fuel prices and a wider cost-of-living crisis.

The protests, which erupted on Sunday, come after months of complaints about soaring energy costs and criticisms that the lives of many Syrians have not improved since the fall of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024.

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The Syrian government has defended its efforts, arguing that it will take time to overcome decades of economic stagnation and international isolation.

The trigger for Sunday’s protests was a government announcement that diesel prices would rise by 40 percent, petrol by at least 25 percent and cooking gas around nine percent.

The government said the increases were temporary and caused by a spike in refined petroleum products following the US-Israeli war on Iran and renewed hostilities in Yemen. However, the Syrian parliament has summoned Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir for a hearing on rising fuel costs, a sign that officials were concerned by the public outcry.

When anti-regime forces overthrew al-Assad’s government, much of the country erupted in celebration.

It came after more than a decade of war and the 50-year rule of the al-Assad family, which had led to international sanctions on the country.

Aside from expectations that freedoms would increase after the fall of the regime, which operated as a police state, many Syrians also hoped the country’s dire economic conditions would improve.

That has been a tough task for the new Syrian government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Since coming to power 21 months ago, the government has focussed on securing international legitimacy and lifting the complex network of sanctions placed on Syria.

On that front, it has largely been successful.

In August, Syria was removed from the US state sponsors of terrorism list, building on earlier decisions to lift sanctions by the US, the European Union and other world powers. This allowed for Syria to be reintegrated into the world economy and receive increased foreign investment.

There has been optimism in Syria, but while the government insists that the positive impact of the removal of sanctions and other government actions will take time, patience has run out for some.

“Fuel itself is not an isolated energy issue right now; it’s related to the cost of living crisis for every household and business in Syria,” Vittorio Maresca di Serracapriola, sanctions lead analyst at Karam Shaar Advisory, told Al Jazeera. “The anger right now reflects a deeper concern that the recovery stemming from the sanctions relief and Syria’s gradual reconnection with the global financial system is not yet translating into affordable [prices].”

“The protests show that Syrians increasingly hold their own government responsible for what they pay,” Nanar Hawach, a Syrian political analyst, told Al Jazeera. “Sanctions relief weakened the argument that hardship comes from outside and raised expectations at the same time. Much of the anger is also coming from areas that backed the change of government, making this the kind of discontent a government can answer only with results.”

Syria’s poverty rate is around 90 percent, according to the UN’s World Food Programme. The rise in fuel costs has a universal impact, affecting the price of transport but also food and other services.

“A 40 percent diesel hike is not just inconvenient; it is really a threat to [people’s] economic survival on a daily basis,” Maresca di Serracapriola said.

Syria remains highly dependent on energy imports. The country produces around 102,000 barrels of oil per day, compared with domestic needs of around 325,000 barrels per day, al-Bashir said. Syria refines some of its crude domestically but its refineries cannot produce enough petroleum products to meet demands, forcing it to import substantial quantities of diesel, petrol and other fuels.

The Syrian government said it was working on an overhaul of the Baniyas refinery – the country’s largest – in the hope that it will raise processing capacity at the facility from around 80,000 to 130,000 barrels per day.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Energy said prices would continue to be reviewed as global market conditions change. It also said it would work over the long term to expand refining and storage capacity.

Authorities will now look for ways to temper public anger.

Hawach suggested a “protected diesel price for public transport and farmers”, as well as the government announcing dates for when temporary price increases would end.

“[This] would likely cost the treasury less than the concessions it has tended to make after protesters block roads, and would give people a reason to wait rather than take to the streets,” he said.

The protests have come about as the Syrian government attempts to rebuild the country after a war that devastated much of the country and killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Sanctions removal has borne some fruit: the World Bank approved around $491m in grants to Syria to support infrastructure and economic development since last year.

Still, after a July visit, the International Monetary Fund recommended that the Syrian government collect more revenue and be more selective about what it spends money on “to create the fiscal space needed to create room for development spending and to enhance the social safety net to protect the most vulnerable segments of the population”.

So far, the government has benefited from a degree of patience among Syrians. But despite the progress made over the past year, that patience is beginning to wear thin – particularly among the country’s most vulnerable, who have yet to feel the benefits of economic growth.

“The question is whether this whole process of recovery will translate into credible relief for households, workers, small businesses and farmers facing the knock-on effects of inflation and higher energy prices,” Maresca di Serracapriola said.

在持续的生活成本危机中，燃料价格上涨加重了叙利亚城市中本就捉襟见肘的家庭的负担，民众的愤怒情绪日益高涨。

2026年9月13日，叙利亚阿勒颇一名抗议者在阿勒颇和土耳其之间的高速公路上焚烧轮胎，以抗议叙利亚不断上涨的燃油价格。[马哈茂德·哈萨诺/路透社]

在叙利亚多个城镇，抗议者封锁道路、焚烧轮胎的景象凸显了民众对政府提高燃油价格的决定以及更广泛的生活成本危机的愤怒。

周日爆发的抗议活动，是在数月来民众抱怨能源成本飙升以及批评许多叙利亚人的生活自2024年12月叙利亚前领导人巴沙尔·阿萨德政权垮台以来没有改善之后发生的。

叙利亚各地爆发抗议活动，反对燃油价格上涨（共3条，第1条）

问题 2（共 3 题）：胡塞武装的进攻会激活《麦加条约》吗？

列表 3/3：叙利亚北部一所监狱发生火灾，至少七人死亡

叙利亚政府为其努力辩护，称克服数十年的经济停滞和国际孤立需要时间。

周日抗议活动的导火索是政府宣布柴油价格将上涨 40%，汽油价格将上涨至少 25%，液化石油气价格将上涨约 9%。

政府称油价上涨是暂时的，是由于美以对伊朗发动战争以及也门战事再度升级导致成品油价格飙升所致。然而，叙利亚议会已召见能源部长穆罕默德·巴希尔就燃油价格上涨问题举行听证会，这表明官员们对公众的强烈抗议感到担忧。

当反政府武装推翻阿萨德政权时，全国大部分地区都爆发了庆祝活动。

此前，该国经历了十多年的战争和阿萨德家族长达 50 年的统治，这导致了国际社会对该国的制裁。

除了期望在实行警察国家的政权垮台后自由度会增加之外，许多叙利亚人还希望该国严峻的经济状况能够得到改善。

对于由总统艾哈迈德·沙拉阿领导的叙利亚新政府来说，这是一项艰巨的任务。

自 21 个月前上台以来，该政府一直致力于确保国际合法性并解除对叙利亚实施的复杂制裁网络。

在这方面，它总体上是成功的。

8月，叙利亚被美国从支持恐怖主义国家名单中移除，此前美国、欧盟和其他世界大国已决定解除对叙利亚的制裁。这使得叙利亚得以重新融入世界经济，并吸引更多外国投资。

叙利亚国内一直弥漫着乐观情绪，但尽管政府坚称解除制裁和其他政府措施的积极影响需要时间才能显现，一些人的耐心已经耗尽。

“燃料本身目前并非孤立的能源问题；它与叙利亚每个家庭和企业的生活成本危机息息相关，”卡拉姆·沙尔咨询公司制裁问题首席分析师维托里奥·马雷斯卡·迪·塞拉卡普里奥拉告诉半岛电视台。“目前的愤怒反映出一种更深层次的担忧，即制裁解除和叙利亚逐步重新融入全球金融体系所带来的复苏尚未转化为民众能够负担得起的价格。”

叙利亚政治分析家纳纳尔·哈瓦奇告诉半岛电视台：“抗议活动表明，叙利亚民众越来越希望自己的政府对他们所遭受的苦难负责。制裁的解除削弱了‘苦难来自外部’的说法，同时也提高了民众的期望。许多愤怒情绪也来自那些支持政权更迭的地区，因此，政府只有用实际行动来回应这种不满。”

根据联合国世界粮食计划署的数据，叙利亚的贫困率约为90%。燃油价格上涨的影响是普遍的，不仅影响运输价格，也影响食品和其他服务的价格。

“柴油价格上涨 40% 不仅仅是不方便；这确实对人们的日常经济生存构成威胁，”马雷斯卡·迪·塞拉卡普里奥拉说道。

叙利亚仍然高度依赖能源进口。巴希尔表示，该国每天生产约10.2万桶石油，而国内需求量约为每天32.5万桶。叙利亚在国内提炼部分原油，但其炼油厂的石油产品产量不足以满足需求，迫使其大量进口柴油、汽油和其他燃料。

叙利亚政府表示，正在对该国最大的炼油厂——巴尼亚斯炼油厂进行全面改造，希望将该炼油厂的加工能力从每天约 8 万桶提高到 13 万桶。

与此同时，能源部表示，将根据全球市场状况的变化持续评估油价。该部还表示，将长期致力于扩大炼油和储存能力。

当局现在将寻找方法来平息公众的愤怒情绪。

哈瓦奇建议“为公共交通和农民提供受保护的柴油价格”，并建议政府宣布临时价格上涨结束的日期。

他说：“（这样做）可能会比抗议者封锁道路后政府通常做出的让步花费更少，而且会让人们有理由等待而不是走上街头。”

叙利亚政府正试图在战争后重建国家，这场战争摧毁了该国大部分地区，造成数十万人死亡，而抗议活动正是在此背景下发生的。

解除制裁已取得一些成果：自去年以来，世界银行已批准向叙利亚提供约 4.91 亿美元的赠款，以支持其基础设施和经济发展。

不过，在 7 月份访问之后，国际货币基金组织建议叙利亚政府增加财政收入，并更加谨慎地选择资金用途，“以创造必要的财政空间，为发展支出创造空间，并加强社会保障网，以保护最弱势的群体”。

迄今为止，叙利亚政府一直受益于民众的一定程度的耐心。但尽管过去一年取得了一些进展，这种耐心正在逐渐消磨殆尽——尤其是在该国最弱势的群体中，他们尚未感受到经济增长带来的好处。

“问题在于，整个复苏过程能否转化为对面临通货膨胀和能源价格上涨连锁反应的家庭、工人、小企业和农民的切实救济，”马雷斯卡·迪·塞拉卡普里奥拉说道。