News

A decision by Syria’s Ministry of Energy to raise fuel prices has triggered the country’s largest wave of popular protests since the fall of the former regime in December 2024, with demonstrations, road blockades, and strikes spreading across several governorates. The ministry increased the price of gas oil (mazout) by 40 percent, petrol by more than 25 percent, and household and industrial gas by around 9 percent. The increases immediately pushed up public transport fares and fuel-related costs across the country, at a time when Syria is already experiencing double-digit inflation and widespread pressure on household purchasing power.

Iraqi fuel shipments exported through Syria to the Mediterranean have steadily increased since they started in March, providing Baghdad with an alternative route for moving fuel to international markets amid disruptions and closures affecting the Strait of Hormuz as a result of the regional war. According to data obtained exclusively by The Syria Report, between March and mid-September, the number of tankers crossing from Iraq has risen from 44 a day to around 1,500, and monthly shipments through Syria have jumped from 245,000 barrels to 8.43 million barrels.

Syria’s diplomatic opening has created an economic opportunity that would have seemed remote only a short time ago. The danger is that the political value of this opening will erode if Syrians see investment announcements multiplying while their own livelihoods remain insecure. The government’s ability to turn international interest into functioning businesses, reliable services and broadly shared opportunities will help determine whether the transition earns durable public confidence.

The number of children in Syria who entered school increased significantly this school year, reaching 5,291,000, compared to 4,125,650 students in 2025, according to the Ministry of Education.

At the 63rd Damascus International Fair, Saudi and Turkish companies signed three agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) to rehabilitate the state-owned Hama steel plant, build a new production line for clinker in Aleppo and expand the Bab Al-Hawa Industrial City in Idlib. A Turkish firm and a local company also announced a new industrial and crafts zone in Raqqa. 

Recent investments in the building materials and construction sector reflect the strong activity in that industry. Syria’s construction sector will contribute significantly to economic growth in the foreseeable future in view of the huge demand for building materials and construction services. Across the country, many Syrians are not waiting for a nationwide state-sponsored reconstruction drive to rebuild their homes. Ensuring that these building materials are produced in Syria, rather than imported, is very important.

This explainer details the economic ramifications of this step (from easing export controls and foreign assistance) and the implications for the lawsuits filed against the Syrian government in courts in the United States under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA).

Last week at the Damascus International Fair, the Idlib-based White Room Holding Group and Chinese firm Zhongh announced a USD 500 million investment to establish five factories related to the construction sector in Hessia Industrial City in the Homs Governorate.

The recent USD 7 billion real estate development agreement between the Syrian Sovereign Fund (SSF) and UAE-based developer Arada has become the largest real estate development deal in post-Assad Syria to date, but key details regarding the partnership and ownership structure and the financing model remain opaque.

The Ministry of Transport, through its General Establishment for Road Transport, has announced the start of the works to rehabilitate the Damascus-Nassib international highway. Kuwait's Combined Group Contracting (CGC) is carrying out the project on this roughly 100-kilometre, four-lane stretch of the M45 motorway connecting the capital to the Jordanian border.

In the first half of 2026, Syria’s state budget recorded a deficit of USD 1 billion, with revenues at  over USD 2.69 billion and expenditures at USD 3.7 billion, according to figures published by the Ministry of Finance on Monday. The results from the first six months point to a significant expansion in government expenses and revenues. Fiscal revenues doubled compared to the same period last year, thanks mostly to a surge in oil and gas revenues. However, expenditure expanded at a much faster pace, shifting public finances from a surplus in the first half of 2025 to a deficit during the same period in 2026.

Baladna Syria, a company fully owned by Qatar’s Baladna, has begun developing a USD 3.3 billion agricultural and food-processing project covering around 2,400 square kilometres in Syria, mainly in Raqqa and Deir-ez-Zor. The project encompasses  the cultivation of crops such as wheat, cotton and sugar, as well as processed products including textiles and dairy products The company, owned by the influential Syrian-Qatari Khayyat family, is also considering purchasing land directly from owners in several  regions around the country.

The European Union has started the process to set up a National Erasmus+ Office in Damascus that “will be operational by January 2027,” a spokesperson for the European External Action Service (EEAS) in Syria explained.

The Ministry of Higher Education and Research issued in July a salvo of decisions establishing tens of new graduate programmes and faculties at various private universities across Syria, a few weeks before the start of the new academic year.

Abyat Hills, a joint Syrian-Saudi real estate development, entered a new phase this month when subscriptions for its residential units opened at the beginning of August, less than two months after the project was officially launched on June 7. But the subscription process ended almost as quickly as it began.

Syria's Ministry of Energy announced that the country's crude oil production reached 14.8 million barrels during the first half of 2026, equivalent to around 82,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd).

Syria has adopted a new legal and regulatory framework for electronic payments and money transfers, marking the latest step in the authorities’ efforts to expand electronic payment options and reduce reliance on cash.

The final delisting came after U.S. President Donald Trump notified Congress on 8 July of his intention to remove Syria from the list, triggering a 45-day statutory review period before the delisting process could be completed.

Two companies under the umbrella of the Syrian Sovereign Fund (SSF) have recently signed two contracts with foreign companies to rehabilitate several public hospitals and establish a vehicle manufacturing project in Aleppo. Sarh Holding, a state-owned construction group of companies owned by the SSF, signed a contract with Canadian company InterHealth Canada, to develop, rehabilitate, upgrade and equip 14 state-owned hospitals. The Syrian Company for Automotive Industry (SCAI), a company owned by the SSF, has signed a contract with Chinese bus manufacturer Yutong to establish a modern vehicle manufacturing plant.

The Ministry of Economy and Industry has recently announced the establishment of two new industrial projects: the first synthetic fur factory in Adra Industrial City (Rural Damascus) through a Syrian-Chinese partnership, and the construction of what has been described as the first integrated industrial mall in Sheikh Najjar Industrial City (Aleppo) by a company registered in Dubai.