The Syrian Ministry of Economy and Industry reduced the weight of the subsidized bread bundle to 1,050 grams, while keeping its price unchanged.
Hassan al-Ahmad, media official at the Ministry of Economy and Industry, told Enab Baladi that the ministry issued a decision to reduce the weight of one bundle to 1,050 grams containing ten loaves, starting today, Saturday, May 9, instead of 1,200 grams.
The media official added that the bundle will continue to be sold at the same price of 40 new Syrian pounds, equivalent to 4,000 old Syrian pounds, about $0.30, without any change despite the reduced weight.
According to a document obtained by Enab Baladi, the ministry also issued a decision reducing bakeries’ flour allocations by 1.75 bags per ton of production.
. The ministry directed the circular to the Consumer Protection Department for implementation from the same date, Saturday, May 9.
Successive Changes to Shape, Weight, and Price
The decision follows a series of changes that began after the fall of the former regime, when the new Syrian government ended the link between bread bundles and the smart card, raising the bundle’s weight to 1,500 grams, 12 loaves, and increasing its price from 400 pounds, about $0.03, to 4,000 pounds, about $0.30.
The Ministry of Internal Trade then reduced the weight in February 2025 to 1,200 grams, with a diameter of 25 to 28 centimeters. In October of the same year, the Syrian Bakeries Corporation, according to what SANA reported at the time, announced a reduction in the number of loaves to ten and an increase in the loaf diameter to 33 centimeters, with the aim of “improving quality and softness,” while keeping the weight and price fixed at the time.
Thus, the bundle’s weight moved from 1,500 to 1,200 and then to 1,050 grams over 16 months, while its price remained fixed at 4,000 pounds, in a gradual reduction of in-kind support.
Bakeries Return and Rehabilitation Efforts
Meanwhile, the Syrian Bakeries Corporation is working to rehabilitate bakeries that had stopped operating and to increase the number of subsidized bakeries, in cooperation with the World Food Programme.
Mohammad Abdul Samie al-Araj, director of statistics and international cooperation at the Syrian Bakeries Corporation, told Enab Baladi that nine bakeries returned to service during the current year after being rehabilitated with support from the World Food Programme (WFP). The bakeries were distributed across four governorates:
The World Food Programme said on X that the rehabilitation of the Maaret al-Numan bakery was carried out with support from Germany and provides for the needs of about 120,000 people daily, adding that “bread in Syria is more than just food, it brings stability and hope.”
Distribution Mechanism and Waste Control
Al-Araj explained that bakeries are supplied with flour, yeast, and improvers through central and branch warehouses, with official documentation of the quantities received, and distribution according to operational plans that take into account each bakery’s production capacity and the population of the area. The corporation relies on periodic distribution schedules to ensure continued supply, under continuous technical and administrative supervision aimed at reducing waste.
He noted that updating production lines and replacing old ones with modern lines helped improve loaf quality and consistency, raise production efficiency, and reduce technical flour waste by improving kneading, fermentation, and baking processes.
International Support Project and Production Figures
The total daily production of supported bakeries is estimated at about 74 tons of flour, according to al-Araj. The corporation, in coordination with the World Food Programme, is studying the expansion of support and an increase in the number of bakeries covered before the end of 2026, depending on needs and available funding.
The Ministry of Economy and Industry had signed an agreement with the World Food Programme on May 27, 2025, to supply 64 bakeries with subsidized flour in a first phase, covering Daraa, 35 bakeries, Aleppo, 19, Latakia, four, Hama, two, Tartus, one, and Homs, three.
The corporation’s director general, Mohammad al-Sayyadi, said at the time that the project targeted about two million beneficiaries with a total of 40,000 tons of flour by the end of 2025.
Gap Between Need and Interventions
These efforts come amid a broader food crisis, as about 9.1 million people in Syria face food insecurity, according to 2025 data, while aid reaches only part of those in need because of funding shortages and rising operating costs.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights documented at least 174 attacks on bakeries from March 2011 to 2021, most of them carried out at the time by the Syrian-Russian alliance, causing major damage to bakery infrastructure across the country.
The field effects of the funding gap are clearly visible in Daraa governorate, where flour support provided by the World Food Programme helped reduce the price of bread for a month and a half from 4,000 to 2,500 pounds, about $0.19, before the support suddenly stopped and the price returned to 4,000 pounds. The scene reflects the fragility of current interventions compared with the scale of actual need, while bread remains one of the most prominent daily challenges for Syrians and is directly linked to living and food stability.
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