Continuous Deterioration of the Living Conditions in Syria (2010–19)

The living conditions index (LCI) is a composite measure that addresses the degree of satisfaction for basic goods and services provided to households across different regions.

It highlights multidimensional non-money metric deprivation rather than income and expenditure poverty.

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This is the first composite index that has ever been developed for Syria to cover changes in living conditions in the period from 2010 to 2019.

LCI ranges between 0 and 1, where 1 is good living conditions. It is constructed using the weighted average of ten indicators including: housing quality, house equipment availability, access to cooking gas, access to heating fuel, access to electricity, access to drinking water, access to appropriate sewage system, solid waste collecting service, communication service, and transportation service.

The index summarizes and interprets the dynamics of these indicators during the Syrian conflict at national and governorate levels.

LCI in 2010 and 2014 was calculated based on the Population Status Survey. The GDP growth rates in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 , and 2016 were used to estimate the index dynamics in these years.

Between 2017 and 2019, LCI estimations depended on data derived from the Humanitarian Needs Overview survey conducted by UN-OCHA office in Syria .

The infographic shows that:
- LCI in Syria dropped by 42% between 2010 and 2019 reflecting the catastrophic impact of the crisis on families and individuals inside the country. Syria continues to lose its assets and potentials, which will have a long term negative impact on LCI in addition to the estimated immediate effect.

- Between 2010 and 2019, LCI in Idleb deteriorated by 67% and recorded the highest deterioration in all Syrian governorates, whereas Lattakia had the lowest decrease in LCI, estimated at 25%. Living conditions have been damaged tremendously in all of Syria, but the severity of damage varies across regions based on the magnitude of armed conflict within each region, and this has widened the inequality between the Syrian provinces.

- LCI has continued to decline in all governorates except in Al-Hassakeh, where there was a slight increase in 2019. This highlights two points: 1) the regions recaptured by the regime in the last two years are still suffering from poor living conditions, which contradicts the regime’s claim of providing better services to these areas (such as Daraa and Rural Damascus); and 2) financial difficulties, rather than security conditions, have been playing an increasing role in reducing accessibility to appropriate goods and services. This is particularly evident in the governorates with relatively good security conditions like Tartous and Damascus.