No salaries, no state: Aden’s crisis exposes Yemen’s broken future

Aden, the interim capital of Yemen, is living through one of its most difficult chapters since the war began ten years ago. 

The city that once served as a commercial hub for the Arabian Peninsula is now battling a slow, grinding economic collapse. Salaries have evaporated, the currency is in freefall, and the cost of living rises week after week. 

Yet, unlike the battles that dominate the headlines, Aden’s crisis is silent, intimate, and devastating — unfolding inside homes, markets, and government offices.

The lifeline of any society — the public payroll — has nearly collapsed. Teachers, soldiers, medical staff, and administrative workers in government-controlled areas have gone months without pay. Even when salaries do arrive, they have already lost much of their value due to the constant depreciation of the Yemeni rial. 

For many families, survival now depends on borrowing, selling personal belongings, or skipping meals.

In Crater, residents say the situation has pushed families to breaking point. Anisa Mohsen, an elderly woman, describes life without income as unbearable:

“We ask the government to give us our salaries because our situation is miserable. We don’t even have enough for daily food. Even the ration assistance they used to give us has been cut. We have now spent six months with no salaries at all."

The currency crisis deepens the despair. The Yemeni rial in Aden has reached levels that were unimaginable only a few years ago, dragging food prices, housing costs, transportation, and medicine along with it. Markets adjust their prices daily, sometimes twice a day, leaving families unable to plan even a week ahead.

Oil revenues, once the backbone of the government’s financial system, remain frozen. Houthi drone attacks on export terminals in Shabwa and Hadramout have halted crude shipments, cutting off the most reliable source of hard currency.

Local businesses, from small grocery shops to import companies, describe the situation as unsustainable. Electricity outages drive operational costs higher. Importers struggle to secure dollars at stable rates. Investors who once considered Aden a gateway to southern trade now hesitate, fearing a sudden collapse of the banking system or political instability.

For many families, the crisis has taken on a human dimension that rarely reaches international headlines. Amani Jaafar, a mother in Aden, says the absence of salaries has left families feeling abandoned: “We have children to take care of, and our husbands sacrificed their lives for this country. The government has given us nothing, deprived us of all our rights, and there is clear double-standards in how assistance is provided to families.”

The humanitarian impact is severe but under-reported. Health workers confirm that cases of malnutrition among children in government-controlled neighborhoods are rising steadily, driven not by conflict but by economic paralysis.

Meanwhile, protests continue across Aden, with public-sector employees, retirees, and families taking to the streets demanding the release of long-delayed salaries. Demonstrators say they have no choice but to protest after months of silence from authorities.

During one of these demonstrations in Crater district, Mahmoud Sultan, a middle-aged Yemeni protester, expressed anger at what he described as government indifference:

“We are standing under the sun demanding our salaries while the government lives in luxury. This is shameful. The government must know that its end will be in the dustbin of history if this miserable situation continues.”

Social tensions are rising; pensioners block roads, teachers strike, and security personnel speak of unpaid benefits. A generation of young Yemenis sees no future in a city that cannot promise employment, stability, or basic public services.

Local authorities and the internationally recognized government say they are working on reforming state revenues, digitizing collections, and combating corruption. But without a nationwide peace agreement and unified economic policy, these efforts resemble patchwork solutions on a sinking ship.

The fundamental question remains brutally simple: Can Aden continue to function under this level of economic strain without a peace agreement that reactivates national revenues?

Experts warn that the window is narrowing. A fragile peace holds the city together today, but the economic collapse threatens to unravel even the last functioning institutions.

Aden is not collapsing in a single dramatic moment. It is collapsing slowly, salary by salary, household by household. Unless Yemen’s leaders and the international community treat the economic file with the urgency it deserves, the fall of the city will not be a matter of speculation. It will simply be the next chapter in a long, painful story.