Iran Faces Economic Losses From Internet Blackout Lasting Over 70 Days

Iranians have experienced a near-total internet blackout for more than 70 days straight in 2026, according to the monitor Netblocks. The shutdown is longer than any other state-ordered national internet outage. It has affected daily life and economic activity across the country since it began following protests earlier in the year and an attack at the end of February.

The internet had returned to limited service in early February after an initial crackdown but was switched off again when the war started on Feb. 28. Most users have since been redirected to a domestic intranet that provides access only to government-approved sites and suffers frequent outages.

VPN services are now mostly blocked and the use of satellite internet services has been made illegal. The blackout has cost the Iranian economy an estimated $250 million a day directly, according to Mahdi Ghodsi, a senior economist at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies.

When the effects on banks, traditional companies and supply chains are included the daily impact can reach as much as $3 billion. Businesses need connectivity to find sellers, place orders and transfer money, Ghodsi said.

A 36-year-old woman from Tehran whose digital marketing business went dark in January told CBC News she has lost most of her livelihood and now spends much of her time abroad. "We are playing for survival," she said, speaking on condition of anonymity because she fears retribution by authorities for herself and her family.

Her last physical business is also at risk, as are many other enterprises not directly tied to the internet. Job losses from the shutdown are estimated at two million, affecting as many as six to eight million people in families that rely on a single breadwinner, Ghodsi reported.

Food stores and pharmacies continue to operate while many cafes and restaurants remain open but are unaffordable for most residents. A 29-year-old woman who recently left for Sri Lanka said her internet-dependent work had become impossible and described the compounded pressure of sanctions, war and isolation.

The Iranian currency has fallen sharply during the period of instability. A year ago it traded at 42,000 rials to the U.S. dollar. It now takes more than 1.3 million rials to buy one dollar. IT workers in Tehran described a sophisticated technology environment that has been paralyzed, with development and support teams unable to communicate through usual chat applications.

Some have partial and spotty access to the internet while artificial intelligence tools are completely unavailable. A 32-year-old woman running a hospitality service in Tehran said customer numbers have dropped because people cannot easily find her business online or afford to use it.

"The internet has to come back. It's an inseparable part of people's lives," she told CBC News. Some depend on it for income, others to stay in contact with family, while many face severe psychological pressure from the prolonged disconnection, she added.

Mahsa Alimardani, an expert on internet censorship at the rights group Witness, said the scale and severity of Iran's shutdown exceeds previous censorship efforts by the country and surpasses measures used by other authoritarian governments.