Syria Looks to Pick Up the Pieces of Its Shattered Economy

Country of more than 20 million people are understaffed and short on experience, having governed only a single province before finding themselves in charge. New government officials from HTS are sharing offices with some low and midlevel staffers from the Assad era, as they learn how to handle large-scale bureaucracy.

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Country of more than 20 million people are understaffed and short on experience, having governed only a single province before finding themselves in charge.

New government officials from HTS are sharing offices with some low and midlevel staffers from the Assad era, as they learn how to handle large-scale bureaucracy.

Before the civil war, which began in 2011, Syria was a fast-growing, lower-middle-income country with virtually no extreme poverty, according to the World Bank.

Poverty has since crippled much of the country. Roughly 75% of the population is estimated to be living on less than $3.65 per person a day, according to the World Bank, and 33% on less than $2.15, which is considered extreme poverty.

Fuel shortages, which have led to frequent blackouts, are a major challenge. Syria was once a net oil exporter—earning $3 billion to $5 billion a year, nearly half its export revenue—via sales mainly to Europe. That came apart after 2011, when the Assad regime began a bloody campaign to stay in power following protests against its rule. Sanctions cut into sales, and the regime lost control of many oil fields during the civil war.

Iran, a close partner of the Assad regime, helped fill the gap but halted oil shipments after the rebels took over. Along the border crossing between Syria and Lebanon, dozens of people could be seen smuggling in canisters of gasoline.

Meanwhile, HTS doesn't control Syria's northeast, home to the bulk of the country's oil reserves, which is held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.