Iran’s internet shutdown decimates businesses and jobs in an already battered economy
Iran has maintained one of the world's longest and strictest internet shutdowns throughout much of 2026, severely impacting its digital economy and cutting off 90 million people from the global web. Businesses reliant on online platforms, from fashion to fitness, have seen income vanish and jobs lost, with an estimated $30-40 million in daily economic losses. Despite growing public outcry and economic damage, Iranian authorities continue the blackout, framing it as a wartime necessity amid ongoing regional tensions.
- ▪Iran’s internet shutdown, ongoing for most of 2026, has cut off its 90 million residents from the global internet, affecting millions of jobs tied to online activity.
- ▪Fashion designer Amen Khademi and fitness coach Farnaz Ojaghloo are among the many professionals who have lost income due to the closure of online platforms like Instagram.
- ▪The internet blackout is costing Iran’s economy an estimated $30-40 million per day, with indirect losses potentially doubling that amount.
- ▪Online retailer DigiKala laid off 200 employees, reflecting broader job losses across Iran’s digital economy due to the shutdown.
- ▪Mahsa Alimardani, an internet censorship expert, described Iran’s shutdown as unprecedented in scale and severity for a country with a developed digital economy.
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Open this photo in gallery:Fashion designer Amen Khademi takes a photo with her cellphone of model Farnaz Ojaghloo wearing a jacket she designed with Persian-inspired motifs at her studio in Tehran, on April 23.Vahid Salemi/The Associated PressShareSave for laterPlease log in to bookmark this story.Log InCreate Free AccountAt her studio in Iran’s capital, Amen Khademi prepared a fashion shoot for a jacket she designed with Persian-inspired motifs. But even as she applied lipstick to the model, she was distracted, worrying if her business would survive after four months without its main link to customers – the internet.Iran’s 90 million people have been cut off from the internet for most of 2026, one of the world’s longest and strictest national shutdowns.
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