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Collapsing currency and inflation leave families struggling in Sudan

Rising bread, sugar and meat prices strain Sudanese households already grappling with war and economic instability.

Al Jazeera查看原文 ↗
Aisha says despite earning more from her coffee and tea business in Port Sudan, the money doesn't go as far as it used to [File: Fatima Edam/Al Jazeera]
Aisha says despite earning more from her coffee and tea business in Port Sudan, the money doesn't go as far as it used to [File: Fatima Edam/Al Jazeera]

Rising bread, sugar and meat prices strain Sudanese households already grappling with war and economic instability.

Aisha says despite earning more from her coffee and tea business in Port Sudan, the money doesn't go as far as it used to [File: Fatima Edam/Al Jazeera]

Port Sudan, Sudan – Aisha pours another cup of tea at her makeshift outdoor stand, hoping the day’s sales will help keep her family afloat.

The 27-year-old sells tea and coffee in Sudan’s second-largest city, Port Sudan, trying to provide for her parents and four brothers in a country now in its fourth year of war .

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The conflict has led to a plunge in the value of the Sudanese pound and rising costs for transportation and essential goods. Those aren’t just abstract economic indicators for Aisha: they’re reflected in the widening gap between what she earns and what her family needs each month.

“Before the war, a cup of coffee cost 1,000 Sudanese pounds ($1.70 at pre-war rates),” Aisha told Al Jazeera. “I could earn about 30,000 pounds a day ($50) and that was enough to cover my family’s needs.”

Aisha now charges 3,000 pounds ($0.40 at current rates) for coffee and 1,500 pounds ($0.20) for tea, earning between 70,000 pounds ($9.30) and 100,000 pounds ($13.30) a day. But that increase in earnings has been swallowed by rising costs – both for her business and the day-to-day expenses she needs to feed and house her family.

Before the war, she was able to buy five pieces of bread for 1,000 pounds ($0.10) but that same amount now only buys her three. The cost of a kilogram of sugar has risen from 4,000 pounds ($0.45) to 7,000 pounds ($0.90). Her daily transportation costs from her home to her coffee and tea stand have now quadrupled.

Beef now costs 68,000 pounds ($9) per kilogram – far outside her budget. Even lentils, a more affordable staple, now costs about 16,000 pounds ($2.10) a kilogram.

Healthcare and education costs have also risen, adding another layer of pressure for families already exhausted by years of war.

Aisha’s experience is shared across Sudan, where the war has disrupted production and exports , creating a shortage of foreign currency and weakening the country’s currency.

The cost of basic items have risen in Sudan, where nearly 20 million people face acute food shortages [Fatima Edam/Al Jazeera]

Inflation eases, but prices keep rising

The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) – which controls Port Sudan – and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has taken a toll on Sudan’s economy and humanitarian conditions since the conflict began in April 2023.

According to Sudan’s Central Bureau of Statistics, annual inflation stood at over 41 percent in July, down from 51 percent in June. But that slowdown does not mean prices fell: The overall consumer price index still rose nearly 1.5 percent between June and July, meaning that prices were continuing to increase but at a slower annual rate, putting further pressure on household purchasing power.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimated that Sudan lost about $6.4bn in gross domestic product in 2023 alone. UNDP said the economy has shrunk by more than 40 percent during the war while one-third of businesses have closed.

A drop in the pound’s value

The collapse of the Sudanese pound has accelerated sharply. Before the war, $1 traded for roughly 600 Sudanese pounds. By September 22, black market currency traders were quoting 7,500 pounds to the dollar, with rates varying between cities and dealers.

Economic analyst Mohyeldin Mohamed attributed the pound’s depreciation to several factors, including the war disrupting productive industries and an “economic war” involving the RSF’s alleged looting and smuggling of resources such as gold and gum arabic .

“The response should combine immediate measures with longer-term reforms” Mohamed told Al Jazeera.

In the short term, he called for increased domestic food production utilising the country’s natural resources, stronger support for sectors that drive economic growth and more effective tax revenue collection. He also said Sudan needs clearer policies to channel gold revenues into official foreign currency earnings, helping to stabilise the economy.

Then, over the longer term, Mohamed said Sudan needed structural reforms to support producers, particularly in agriculture and livestock, areas where he says the country has a comparative advantage.

Mohamed argued that Sudan could reform its gold sector to reduce reliance on informal, small-scale mining, and instead expand regulated mining while developing partnerships with the private sector to potentially increase production. This, he said, would increase the amount of government revenue from the extraction and sale of gold.

He also called for lowering production costs, particularly for farmers struggling with the price of fertilisers, pesticides, and other agricultural supplies. More broadly, the analyst argued for cutting reliance on imports – particularly flour and medicine – and expanding forestry and gum arabic production to boost foreign currency earnings through exports.

Human cost of a weaker pound

For families already struggling to cope with the war, the weakening Sudanese pound is making everyday survival increasingly difficult.

The currency has struggled since the war began in April 2023. Disrupted domestic production and trade have reduced exports and foreign currency earnings, while damage to the banking system and falling government revenues have also added pressure on the Sudanese pound.

With more people and businesses competing for scarce foreign currency, they have to offer more Sudanese pounds to obtain it, weakening the pound and driving up the prices of locally produced goods.

Maryam Ibrahim, a Sudanese aid worker and an economics researcher who previously worked with the UN, said the sharp decline in the currency has eroded household purchasing power, leaving salaries and savings unable to keep pace with rising prices.

“The main impact of the currency’s decline is the loss of purchasing power,” Ibrahim said. “Salaries and savings are no longer enough to cover household needs.”

Ibrahim said families are responding by cutting back on meals, delaying medical treatment, withdrawing children from school and borrowing money or essential goods to make ends meet.

The pressure comes as poverty and food insecurity deepen. The World Bank estimates that extreme poverty in Sudan spiked from 48 percent in 2023 to 59 percent in 2025.

Nearly 19.5 million people – about 41 percent of Sudan’s population – were struggling with acute food crises between February and May, according to Integrated Food Security Phase Classification assessment, a leading authority on global hunger. More than five million faced extreme, life-threatening food shortages and 135,000 were at risk of famine.

Ibrahim said cash assistance provided by non-governmental organisations can help families prioritise their most urgent needs, from food and medicine to transport. But in an economy where prices are changing rapidly, she said aid payments need to be regularly adjusted to reflect rising costs.

She also argued that emergency assistance should be linked to longer-term support for livelihoods, agriculture and small businesses so that families can gradually rebuild their ability to earn an income.

“Humanitarian assistance alone cannot solve Sudan’s economic crisis,” she said. “A sustainable response requires humanitarian access, support for local markets and agriculture, and the restoration of banking and public services.”

For families such as Aisha’s, those broader economic challenges are felt in the most basic decisions: what they can still afford to eat, which expenses to delay and how far each day’s earnings will stretch.

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