Internet privacy experts estimate that Iran is incurring losses of about $1.56 million every hour because of state-enforced internet blackouts, which are severely affecting the economy and the daily lives of over 90 million citizens.
The significant disruptions occurred alongside ongoing protests, and the financial toll continued even after some connectivity was restored. According to research director Simon Miliano, the current blackout costs the nation roughly $37.4 million per day. “The total losses due to the complete internet shutdown have surpassed $780 million, and the continued stringent filtering is stifling the economy,” he explained.
Miliano also mentioned that Iran has already lost about $215 million from its economy in 2025 due to internet access interruptions.
Iranian authorities cut off communications on January 8, during widespread protests against the regime. Since then, while much of the bandwidth and services like calls and SMS have resumed, a strict filtering system remains in place, making it difficult for citizens to use the internet freely.
“This dramatic increase in VPN use—up by 579%—illustrates the lengths people are going to for digital access,” Miliano noted. Even if connectivity is temporarily available, the internet is often “heavily censored and almost unusable without VPNs.” He stated that as soon as people regain access, they quickly turn to VPNs to reach platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram that are otherwise restricted.
Miliano indicated that sustained demand, remaining at 427% above normal levels, shows that Iranians are actively preparing for potential further outages. The usual response involves downloading a variety of tools and shifting between them to evade government restrictions.
Iranian officials have recognized the severe economic consequences of these internet blackouts. The Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Sattar Hashemi, reported that these power interruptions are costing the digital economy around 5 trillion rials each day, aggregating to nearly 50 trillion rials across the economy.
While the extensive blackout might have been lifted, Miliano asserted that connectivity remains highly disrupted, limited mostly to government-sanctioned sites and apps, with fluctuating stability throughout the day.
