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Gallery|Poverty and Development

In Pictures: Empty fridges as Lebanon economic crisis bites

With soaring prices and falling currency, Lebanon’s middle class is sliding under the poverty line.

A Lebanese woman stands next to her empty refrigerator in her apartment in the port city of Tripoli north of Beirut on June 17, 2020. - Lebanon''s economic crisis has led to a collapse of the local cur
An empty fridge holds only a bottle of water and two cucumbers for this woman in the port city of Tripoli north of the capital Beirut. [Ibrahim Chalhoub/AFP]
Published On 25 Jun 202025 Jun 2020
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Lebanon’s economic crisis has led to a collapse of the local currency and purchasing power, plunging whole segments of society into poverty.

Earlier this year, Lebanon defaulted on its debt and, while the peg to the dollar remains unchanged, the pound has since nosedived on the black market.

In a country so heavily reliant on imports, the blow is huge, and thousands of businesses were doomed even before the coronavirus lockdown shuttered the economy.

The crisis is sounding the death knell of a middle class that is sliding under the poverty line, where half of the population now is, according to World Bank estimates.

A far cry from the country’s erstwhile image as the “Switzerland of the Middle East”, fabled for its nightlife and entrepreneurial genius, a class of destitute Lebanese is emerging across the country.

Holding her fridge door open, Fadwa Merhebi explains she already downsized once because she could not afford enough food to fill it up.

Now it contains only a bottle of mineral water and two cucumbers.

“If there were smaller fridges on the market, I would sell this one and buy a smaller one,” says the 60-year-old, who lives alone in a tiny flat in Tripoli.

“At least I could use the money to buy something to eat.”

A Lebanese child stands next to an empty refrigerator in their apartment in the port city of Tripoli north of Beirut on June 17, 2020. - Lebanon''s economic crisis has led to a collapse of the local cu
Lebanon's economic crisis has led to a collapse of the local currency and purchasing power. [Ibrahim Chalhoub/AFP]
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A Lebanese woman stands next to her empty refrigerator in her apartment in the port city of Tripoli north of Beirut on June 17, 2020. - Lebanon''s economic crisis has led to a collapse of the local cur
Lebanon is heavily dependent on imports; the US dollar and local currency have been used interchangeably for years. [Ibrahim Chalhoub/AFP]
A Lebanese woman displays the content of her refrigerator at her apartment in the southern city of Sidon on June 16, 2020. - Lebanon''s economic crisis has led to a collapse of the local currency and p
The dollar shortage, coupled with already negative economic growth, has crunched Lebanon's middle class and increased poverty. [Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP]
A Lebanese woman displays the content of her refrigerator at her apartment in the southern city of Sidon on June 16, 2020. - Lebanon''s economic crisis has led to a collapse of the local currency and p
Half of Lebanon's population is now below the poverty line. [Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP]
A Lebanese woman stands next to her empty refrigerator in her apartment in the port city of Tripoli north of Beirut on June 17, 2020. - Lebanon''s economic crisis has led to a collapse of the local cur
A class of destitute Lebanese is emerging across the country once known as the 'Switzerland of the Middle East', fabled for its nightlife and entrepreneurial genius. [Ibrahim Chalhoub/AFP]
A Lebanese man displays the content of his refrigerator at his apartment in the southern city of Sidon on June 16, 2020. - Lebanon''s economic crisis has led to a collapse of the local currency and pur
Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri urged the country's government, central bank and commercial banks to declare a 'financial state of emergency'. [Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP]
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A Lebanese woman displays the content of her refrigerator at her apartment in Jounieh, north of the capital Beirut, on June 19, 2020. - Lebanon''s economic crisis has led to a collapse of the local cur
Lebanese families are increasingly finding themselves unable to secure the basics. [Joseph Eid/AFP]


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