People walking at the Damascus market on Dec. 9, 2024. (Credit: AFP)
Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, now in exile in Moscow, has left behind a battered economy, ravaged by 13 years of uprisings, repression, counter-revolutions, civil war and mass exodus.Between 11 and 12 million Syrians were forced to flee or relocate, leading to an unprecedented collapse of all economic sectors. The country's gross domestic product (GDP), estimated at about $68 billion in 2011 at the start of the anti-government protests, plummeted to $8.9 billion in 2021 and to $6.2 billion this year, according to preliminary data from the World Bank.However, these estimates exclude the cash-fueled black market, which has grown significantly during the crisis. The sanctions imposed on the regime, its companies and its supporters by the European Union and the United States, particularly through the Caesar Act, have severely...
Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, now in exile in Moscow, has left behind a battered economy, ravaged by 13 years of uprisings, repression, counter-revolutions, civil war and mass exodus.Between 11 and 12 million Syrians were forced to flee or relocate, leading to an unprecedented collapse of all economic sectors. The country's gross domestic product (GDP), estimated at about $68 billion in 2011 at the start of the anti-government protests, plummeted to $8.9 billion in 2021 and to $6.2 billion this year, according to preliminary data from the World Bank.However, these estimates exclude the cash-fueled black market, which has grown significantly during the crisis. The sanctions imposed on the regime, its companies and its supporters by the European Union and the United States, particularly through the Caesar Act, have severely...