Syria — Country Profile
Population, GDP, natural resources, leaders and history of Syria: the Magna Factbook country file, with its Magna Power score (--/100, ranked #-- of 195).
Last updated: October 2026
Syria is in Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and Turkey. It covers 187,437 sq km. Terrain: primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west. Climate: mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast; cold weather with snow or sleet periodically in Damascus.
| Capital | Damascus |
|---|---|
| Population | 24,261,882 (2025 est.) |
| GDP (PPP) | $98.858 billion (2023 est.) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | $4,200 (2023 est.) |
| Real GDP growth | -1.2% (2023 est.) |
| Inflation | 94.1% (2022 est.) |
| Unemployment | 13% (2024 est.) |
| Public debt | 91.3% of GDP (2016 est.) |
| Exports | $1.609 billion (2022 est.) |
| Imports | $6.803 billion (2022 est.) |
| Life expectancy | 74.8 years (2024 est.) |
| Median age | 24.5 years (2025 est.) |
| Urbanization | 57.4% of total population (2023) |
| Government | transitional presidential republic |
| Independence | 17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration) |
| Languages | Arabic (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian, French, English |
Syria’s GDP is $98.858 billion (2023 est.) in purchasing-power-parity terms. At official exchange rates it stands at $19.993 billion (2023 est.). Real GDP grew -1.2% (2023 est.). See where Syria ranks among all 195 countries by GDP.
POWER --/100 — The Magna Power score is our 0–100 composite of structural national power — nine components, 135 indicators. It is the Bureau's own assessment, not a mirror of World Bank or CIA figures.
Momentum 0 — Quarterly momentum: the Bureau's read on the country's trajectory over the last quarter, from −10 (deteriorating fast) to +10 (accelerating).
Nothing in Jul–Sep 2026 moved the needle. The institutions functioned, the economy ran its course, and the world looked elsewhere.
That is the honest note: a quarter of normalcy, scored as such.
- What drags it down: graded on patchy data (79% complete) — read the score as an order of magnitude; inflation running at 94.1% — eating paychecks
Oil, Phosphates, Manganese, Iron ore, Marble, Gypsum, Hydropower.
Energy is the physical base of economic power — what a country can generate, move and burn decides what it can build, sell and defend.
| Electricity access | 89% (2022 est.) |
|---|---|
| Installed capacity mix (CIA) | fossil fuels: 95.6% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); solar: 0.5% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); hydroelectricity: 3.8% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) |
| Energy consumption per capita (CIA) | 13.569 million Btu/person (2023 est.) |
Sources: CIA World Factbook, Energy section; Our World in Data (IEA/Ember), 2024.
Trade shows what the world buys from a country and what the country must buy from the world — the balance between the two is a direct measure of economic leverage.
| Exports | $1.609 billion (2022 est.) |
|---|---|
| Imports | $6.803 billion (2022 est.) |
| Trade balance (calculated) | Deficit of $5.2 billion (2022), calculated from the CIA export and import figures above. |
| Key industries | petroleum, textiles, food processing, beverages, tobacco, phosphate rock mining, cement, oil seeds crushing, automobile assembly |
Source: CIA World Factbook, Economy section.
Ahmed al-Sharaa — President. Ahmad al-Shara'; former President Bashar al-ASAD was overthrown by Islamist rebels on 8 December 2024
Syria maintains 47 embassies and 3 consulates abroad. The breadth of a diplomatic network is a direct measure of diplomatic power — it shows how far a country’s influence, alliances and interests reach.
| Embassies abroad | 47 |
|---|---|
| Consulates abroad | 3 |
Source: Outbound: Consular Affairs Center (Yonsei Univ.), diplomatic & consular networks database, January 2026 report (Zenodo).
Transport networks are economic power made physical — ports, runways, railways and pipelines decide what a country can move, sell and defend.
| Sea access | Coastal — 193 km of coastline. |
|---|---|
| Airports (total) | 42 + 13 heliports (registration prefix YK) |
| Major seaports | Al Ladhiqiyah, Baniyas, Tartus |
| Railways | 2052 km |
| Pipelines | 3,170 km gas, 2029 km oil (2013) |
Major airports
Aleppo International Airport (ALP) — Aleppo; Damascus International Airport (DAM) — Damascus; Latakia International Airport (LTK) — Latakia; Qamishli International Airport (KAC) — Qamishli.
Sources: OurAirports public-domain extract (2026-10-02); per-entry Wikipedia links included; CIA World Factbook via cia_factbook snapshot (2026-09-28); theodora.com CIA mirror (CIA World Factbook Transportation section), scraped 2026-10-02
| Political system | presidential republic |
|---|---|
| Next election | No election currently scheduled. |
POWER --/100 Ranked #-- of 195 countries in the Magna Country Rankings. Full ranking breakdown for Syria.
This profile covers the population, economy, natural resources, leaders, and history of Syria — with the Bureau’s live national-power score of --/100, ranking #-- of 195 countries.
What is Syria's power score?
Syria has a Magna Power score of --/100. The score measures structural power — the proven capacity to shape events — across nine components.