Yemeni government data has revealed the scale of the unprecedented economic and humanitarian deterioration the country has suffered because of a war that has dragged on for more than a decade, saying the conflict ignited by the Houthis caused cumulative losses to the national economy estimated at about $126 billion by 2021.
The figures come as poverty and unemployment widen and prospects for economic recovery decline at an alarming pace.
Data issued by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation showed that Yemen’s economy continued to contract under the weight of the war and its impact across productive and service sectors, amid stalled oil exports, weaker trade activity and growing pressure on the local currency.
This has directly affected living standards and people’s ability to secure their basic needs.
According to the report on economic, development and humanitarian indicators in Yemen for 2024 and 2025, real gross domestic product shrank by 43% between 2015 and 2024. It had contracted by about 50% between 2011 and 2021, reflecting, according to the report’s authors, the depth of the economic crisis and the continuing cumulative impact on all parts of the national economy.
The war has caused a decline in the activity of Yemeni ports and raised insurance fees, government media said.
Yemeni data shows that per capita GDP fell to just $471 in 2024, compared with $1,430 in 2014, a sharp decline that reveals the scale of the collapse in purchasing power and individual income levels during the war years.
The report attributes part of this decline to the repercussions of the war and Houthi attacks on oil export ports, which halted oil exports, the country’s main source of foreign currency. This has worsened public finance imbalances and weakened the government’s ability to fund basic services and development spending.
Unemployment exceeds average rates
In the labor market, Yemeni government data painted a bleak picture of employment conditions. Youth unemployment reached 32.4%, exceeding the global average of 13.6% and the Arab average of 25.9%, in a clear sign of the widening gap between education outcomes and labor market needs, as well as the weakened economy’s limited ability to generate new jobs.
The report said the continued decline in education, health and living standards has deepened the crisis, with human capital eroding and economic and social fragility expanding, especially among young people, who have become the most affected by the lack of job opportunities and weak training and rehabilitation programs.
Human development indicators also showed a sharp decline in Yemen’s global ranking. The country scored 0.470 on the Human Development Index, compared with an Arab average of 0.719, ranking 184th out of 193 countries in the 2025 Human Development Report. Yemen ranked 160th in 2014, reflecting the scale of the decline in education, health and income indicators.
Poverty widens
On the humanitarian front, the Yemeni report’s data showed a striking expansion in needs. The number of people requiring humanitarian assistance rose this year to about 23.1 million, compared with 19.5 million last year and 18.2 million the year before, as humanitarian funding falls sharply.
According to Yemeni government data, actual funding coverage for humanitarian needs last year did not exceed 28% of total needs, compared with an average of 64% between 2016 and 2024. This leaves millions of Yemenis facing a widening gap between rising needs and the resources available for humanitarian response.
The data also confirmed that 50.3% of Yemeni families suffer from multidimensional poverty, with a clear divide between rural and urban areas. The rate rises to 51.1% in rural areas, compared with 44.3% in urban areas, reflecting widening deprivation in income, education, health and basic services.
The report warned that the continuation of this trend would have long-term consequences for human capital and the prospects for economic recovery, given the close link between declining growth, rising poverty and unemployment, and the widening vulnerability of Yemeni families.
Food is available, but out of reach
On food security, Yemen’s Planning Ministry said that despite the availability of food commodities in markets in February, access to them remains the biggest challenge for Yemeni families because of the continued rise in prices, the falling value of the local currency and the sharp decline in humanitarian assistance.
According to a report by the Food Security Technical Secretariat at the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, supported by the Food Security and Nutrition Information Systems program of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and funded by the World Bank, total imports of basic food commodities in February reached about 194,517 tons, including 84,000 tons of wheat, representing 43% of total food imports.
But this relative availability of supply did not prevent prices from continuing to rise. The price of one food basket reached about 232,000 Yemeni rials in February, up 3% from the start of this year, while food basket prices rose by 575% compared with levels recorded in 2016.
The crisis has been worsened by a sharp decline in food aid distribution. Food assistance reached only 2% of total beneficiaries, while those benefiting from nutrition assistance accounted for about 6%, low levels that reflect the limited response compared with the scale of rising needs.
The report’s authors called for an urgent package of policies, foremost among them supporting a comprehensive and sustainable peace process, ending the Houthi coup, stimulating economic growth, strengthening labor-intensive sectors, improving the business environment and increasing investment in infrastructure and human capital.
They also called for expanding youth employment programs and vocational training, describing this as the most realistic path to reducing poverty and achieving sustainable recovery.
