In Aden, the interim capital of the internationally recognised Yemeni government, the problem is not a shortage of goods in the markets but people's inability to afford them. Salaries have failed to keep pace with the rising costs of food, rent, healthcare and transport, leaving many workers with little left at the end of the month.
Bushra Abdullah Abdulwarith, a government employee in Aden, earns 78,000 Yemeni riyals ($50) a month at the black market exchange rate, while typical household food costs in government-held areas run to about 130,366 riyals ($83), according to estimates by the Yemen Economic Tracking Initiative. That is before rent, transport, healthcare and other expenses.
Abdulwarith told Al Jazeera that rising prices have forced many households to give up almost all non-essential purchases and cut back on some expensive basics, particularly meat. Across the country, displaced families in Marib and unpaid public-sector workers in Sanaa are being forced into similar decisions about what they can afford and what they must go without.
More than a decade of war has devastated the economy. The World Bank says real GDP per capita has fallen by approximately 58 percent since 2015. The fragmentation of Yemen's monetary institutions, with the Houthis running their own bodies since seizing Sanaa in 2014, along with the disruption of oil exports and declining international assistance, have all contributed to the economic decline.