Iran's nationwide internet blackout is costing the country potentially $60mn daily as the shutdown enters its second week, with the cumulative damage already exceeding $700mn-$840mn, according to calculations based on macroeconomic data reported on January 16.

The nationwide connectivity cut commenced on January 8, following twelve days of nationwide protests. Following the government’s internet crackdown, protests continued to swell across major cities, including Astara, Shiraz, Isfahan, and the capital of Tehran.

The disruption has severed access to e-commerce platforms, online banking services and global trade networks as authorities maintain restrictions amid ongoing demonstrations. Iran's digital economy contributes between 6% and 6.5% of gross domestic product, valued at $27bn-$29bn annually from a projected 2026 GDP of $452bn, according to Emerging Markets intelligence research shared with bne IntelliNews.

With internet penetration at more than 80% across 92mn people, representing 73mn active users, the shutdown has eliminated digital sector output entirely, with those who use social media platforms particularly affected in recent days.

E-commerce platforms valued at $107bn in 2024 are facing significant disruption, with forecasts for 2025 projecting growth to $180bn by March 2026.

The sudden shutdown at the beginning of January forced people to use regular telephone lines inside the country to conduct business, which has dramatically damaged all sectors of the economy, the report noted.

Social media platforms including Instagram, Telegram and WhatsApp, which handle 83% of small business sales, remain blocked alongside broader internet access.

Payment processing volumes have declined between 50% and 90% during the outage, with limited offline alternatives available for small and medium enterprises, according to internal data.

Previous internet disruptions provide context for the current damage. A 2019 blackout cost Iran $1.5bn over one week, whilst restrictions between 2022 and 2023 tallied $1.6bn across 17 months.

Recent disruptions during a 2025 conflict with Israel resulted in $170mn losses over one month, Bloomberg reported in July.

The shutdown occurs as Iran confronts currency devaluation, trade challenges and protest-related capital flight wit the rial trading near an historic low of IRR1.42mn against the US dollar and above IRR1.65mn against the euro, the latest available data shows.

According to the EMI report, the technology sector is under pressure as startups close operations, undermining the government's ambitions to expand the digital economy's contribution to national output.

Protesters have had limited connectivity via Elon Musk's Starlink satellite services, though these appear to be few and far between and not used as part of a commercial connection for most businesses. 

Two weeks of restrictions already represent 0.2% of projected annual GDP, according to monitoring data from Cloudflare.

Iran's ongoing internet blackout has exceeded 190 hours of continuous disruption, surpassing the core duration of the 2019 shutdown, according to NetBlocks' monitoring data earlier on January 16. 

Most Iranian government websites still exist and function over the "National Information Network" or local intranet, but foreign networks, users will only reliably see stubs or gated front pages for a handful of top‑level portals and state media mirrors, with the bulk of .ir government content effectively dark to the outside world at present.

On January 12, Iranian security forces reportedly escalated their crackdown by conducting house-to-house searches to confiscate satellite dishes and Starlink internet equipment, targeting the limited technological resources available to citizens for accessing external communications.