Amid Iran’s economic catastrophe, Iran is set to export 5,000 tons of poultry to Iraq in the next eight days as Iranians can no longer afford basic food items.

According to Ali Ebrahimi, the CEO of the National Union of Poultry Producers, on Thursday, poultry production has overtaken consumption over the past two months, resulting in a surplus of supply over demand and lowering the price of the commodity.

The decline in price has hurt poultry farmers who have been struggling to export their products, Ebrahimi said, further adding that about 1,100 tons of poultry were sold last year to Iraq, which is the main destination for Iranian frozen poultry exports.

Reports received earlier in March by Iran International indicate a significant drop in people’s purchasing power and the elimination of many food items in their diets, including red meat, chicken, and fish.

Canned tuna prices have jumped by 113% in the past 12 months and prices for red meat by 100%.

In more than a decade, Iran's economic growth has averaged zero. The situation has been further exacerbated since the US withdrawal from the JCPOA nuclear deal in 2018.

Over the past six years, the rial, Iran’s national currency, has fallen 15-fold, fueling inflation and plunging millions of citizens into poverty.

Eqtesad 24 news website reported in February that almost one in every three Iranians is currently living below the poverty line as a result of soaring inflation.