Syria’s Sugar Sector: From Strategic Crop to Import Dependency

The Syrian sugar sector stands as a textbook example of the broader economic collapse caused by the conflict that has gripped the country since 2011. Syria, once considered one of the region’s prominent agricultural producers and a country that cultivated sugar beet crop (sugar beet), has been transformed into a state that is almost entirely dependent on sugar imports. This transformation has created a massive gap between domestic supply and demand, turning sugar from a locally produced staple into a commodity whose availability and price are dictated by external markets and import dynamics.