A study by the Social Bureau of the Sudanese Teachers’ Union says the cost of basic needs now exceeds public-sector pay by roughly 100 times, leaving salaries unable to cover housing, food, and healthcare.
The findings come amid a war-driven economic crash since April 2023 that has shrunk GDP by about 40% and erased more than 60% of household income. The Sudanese pound has plunged, with the dollar trading around SDG 3,400 on the parallel market on Monday versus about SDG 600 before the fighting.
UN estimates put poverty above 70%, with many state workers earning less than $1.50 a day. Financial analyst Omar Sayed Ahmed told Sky News Arabia that a mix of structural and wartime shocks is driving the spike: the collapse of the Egyptian pound has lifted prices of imported fuel, wheat and medicines; supply chains are broken as transport routes are cut; and the Central Bank’s weakened grip on policy and resort to money printing have accelerated inflation and gutted purchasing power.
He described a “vicious cycle” of currency collapse, soaring prices, eroding wages and weak production. The consequences are increasingly visible: theft and looting are rising, and frustration among workers is deepening.
Othman Fadlallah, editor-in-chief of the New Horizon newspaper, warned the widening wage–cost gap risks social unrest and further undermines political and security stability, complicating any path to durable solutions.
