Sugar & Sweeteners, Food Consumption
Same index methodology as the wheat row above, applied to sugar.
Event_Log
011980Wartime rationing coupon system introducedCorrelationExpected causation
Amid the Iraqi invasion, a trade squeeze and food shortages, the government begins distributing ration coupons for sugar, rice, meat, cooking oil and other staples through neighborhood cooperatives; the coupon ('koopon') system remains in force through the 1980s and is phased out only toward the end of the Ahmadinejad era.
Why this link: Sugar was one of the flagship rationed goods distributed through neighborhood cooperatives under the coupon system.
Caveat: Import availability and global sugar prices also drove consumption independent of the rationing scheme itself.
Lag: Immediate, decade-longSource: IMF Working Paper -- Iran: The Chronicles of the Subsidy Reform
Related_Laws
Laws related to this measure. Correlation = how closely this law tracks this measure's story. Expected causation = how strongly we would expect it to have moved the line. Neither is a claim of proof.
2017CorrelationExpected causationRuling No. 48 of the General Board of the Administrative Court of Justice [...] Tax Exemption for Ready-to-Consume Sugar
This ruling by the General Board of the Administrative Court of Justice addresses a tax exemption applicable to ready-to-consume sugar.
Why this link: By lowering the effective consumer price of prepared sugar, this 2017 tax exemption ruling plausibly supports sugar/sweetener consumption levels, though only as one of many price and income drivers.
Caveat: Sugar consumption trends are shaped mainly by income, health policy, and international prices; a single commodity tax exemption cannot be isolated as a driver of the consumption series.