What does economic pressure on Iran look like? On social media, people are documenting it one receipt at a time.
Authors
- Hamideh Khaleghi Mohammadi
Lecturer in Media and Communications, University of Sydney
- Ali Abbasi
Sessional Academic and Researcher in Media and Communications, University of Sydney
A washing machine. A bag of groceries. A packet of chips.
On Iranian social media, everyday items are being used to illustrate rampant inflation. Videos juxtapose the purchasing power of the same amount of money from one or two years ago with its current value.
People capture supermarket shelves , photograph receipts , and make jokes about products that have become unaffordable for their households.
These posts are more than just complaints about rising prices. Collectively, they are forming an unofficial cost-of-living diary of a nation under significant economic strain.
An 'economic onslaught'
On August 24, the Trump administration launched what it calls " Operation Economic Outcast ", a new campaign designed to further isolate Iran economically.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described it as an "economic onslaught" against Iran's financial connections, saying its objective was to "sever every economic lifeline" sustaining the Iranian government.
The stated target is the Iranian state and the financial networks that support it. But economic pressure is not confined to governments, banks, oil markets and international trade. Its effects can eventually reach much further down the chain - to businesses, workers and households.
Iran was already experiencing serious economic problems before this latest campaign. War, sanctions, domestic economic problems, disruption to trade and restrictions on oil exports have added to the pressure.
Recent official figures cited by Reuters put Iran's 12-month average inflation at 69.9%. Prices for food, beverages and tobacco are rising at nearly double that rate, with food inflation exceeding 128% .
The rial has fallen to a record low, from about one million to the US dollar a year ago to more than 2.2 million .
There is also a striking gap between income and expenses. Reuters reports official data showing an average monthly salary of about US$125, while basic household spending is around US$450.
These numbers describe a severe economic problem. But they cannot fully show what it feels like to live through it. Social media can.
An unofficial economic archive
A notable trend on Iranian social media involves looking back in time. Users compare prices across different years, illustrating what a certain amount of money could buy then versus now. Household goods, food, and other familiar items show declining purchasing power. These videos effectively create small-scale economic timelines.
Other posts focus on current circumstances: grocery receipts, supermarket prices, household budgets, and items people say they can no longer afford regularly.
A receipt isn't an inflation index, of course. An Instagram video can't replace reliable economic statistics. However, these posts convey what statistics often miss: the lived experience of purchasing power.
They reveal which products have vanished from shopping baskets, what people substitute, delay buying, or consider luxury. The emotions expressed vary widely; some show anger or disappointment, while others use humour and memes to cope with rising prices.
Some call for boycotts, protests, or collective action, while others advise endurance, framing the economic hardship as a wartime condition.
Iranian social media reflects diverse political voices. What unites these posts is their method: using daily life to chronicle economic change.
When economic pressure reaches the shopping basket
The scale of the pressure on households is increasingly difficult to overlook.
Iranian officials have acknowledged the strain . Central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati has said economic conditions and managing people's livelihoods have become difficult , while parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has identified inflation, unemployment and currency instability as major challenges .
These pressures are visible in salaries that no longer cover the same expenses , products becoming increasingly unaffordable and families cutting back on everyday spending.
But social media adds another layer to this economic picture.
Official statistics record inflation, exchange rates and household expenditure . Social media records how people experience those changes: the groceries they leave behind, the purchases they postpone, the jokes they make about prices and the comparisons they draw with what their money once bought.
This is what makes these posts significant beyond the current economic crisis. They are creating a bottom-up archive of economic life in wartime.
Years from now, the economic history of this period may be found not only in inflation charts, currency records and government reports, but also in the receipts, supermarket shelves, memes and shrinking shopping baskets Iranians chose to photograph, save and share.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
