The Q3 2026 findings documented a sustained rise in Iran’s annual consumer price inflation. Inflation rose for 13 straight months, from 38.8% in May 2025 to 88.6% in June 2026, more than doubling over that period.
A subsequently replaced finding extended the consumer price index record into July 2026. It recorded an increase from 98.07 in September 2021 to 676.90 in July 2026, a sustained increasing trend over 59 consecutive months. The July index reading followed the June annual inflation reading; the findings established no causal relationship between them.
The longer-running annual measures moved in different directions. GDP-deflator inflation fell for three straight years, from 55.9% in 2021 to 28.4% in 2024. Methane emissions relative to 1990 rose for four straight years, from 28.3% above that baseline in 2020 to 72.6% above it in 2024. The trade balance in goods and services at constant prices rose for three straight years, from 890.3 trillion in local currency in 2022 to 5690.6 trillion in 2025, more than six times its earlier level.
Taken together, the quarter’s publications documented sharply higher consumer inflation alongside earlier declines in GDP-deflator inflation and increases in the constant-price trade balance. The accompanying regional story contrasted Iran’s acceleration with sustained inflation slowdowns in Egypt and Lebanon, where prices nevertheless continued rising; Kuwait recorded a zero-inflation reading.
The findings were statistically detected from named multilateral sources, including the IMF, and were checked before publication. This brief covered findings published during Q3 2026, including observations from earlier periods.