Syria's social landscape is characterized by large income discrepancies. In 2007, 30 percent of the Syrian population still lived in poverty and 12.3 lived below the subsistence level. Although Syria is trying to bring down the number of people below the poverty line of 1.25 USD, this figure is no longer an appropriate yardstick for measuring extreme poverty (see the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Third National Report on the Millennium Development Goals, 2010). Nevertheless, the millennium goal for 2015 is to reduce the rate of extreme poverty to 7.1 percent. The statistics show important regional differences. For instance, in 2004 the poverty rate was 4.7 percent for Damascus and the eastern desert region of Deir al-Zor (below the targets of 8.5 and 7.4 percent respectively), whereas poverty rates for the northern and southern governorates are far below the national average. The poorest governorates are Latakia (19.88 percent) and al-Raqqa (17.59 percent) in the north and al-Suwayda (17.72 percent) in the extreme south-east.

Although there are no statistics for the regions in 2010, the UNDP report states that 'the reductions in the rate of rain-fall during the previous years accompanied by sand storms, have reduced the amount of arablje land, which in turn contributed to an increase in poverty in the rural East region (namely Hasakeh, Raga, Dier Ezzor and in particular in vast areas of the steppe of Homs)'. This resulted in reduced local food production as a result of frequent droughts and internal migration.

These inequalities are not limited to income alone. 'Education is negatively correlated to poverty, since over 18 percent of the poor people are illiterate,' the report states. Although literacy and school enrolment are, on average, high in Syria – especially compared to other countries in the Middle East – again there are notable regional differences. The percentage of children reaching the sixth year of education is much lower in Aleppo (76 percent), al-Raqqa (82 percent), and al-Hasaka (85 percent). The ratio of women is lagging behind in a number of governorates. In 2004, Latakia, Tartus, and al-Suwayda were the only governorates to achieve the interim goal, while Homs came close. 

The same discrepancy is apparent in literacy figures concerning 15 to 24 year olds. In Damascus and Quneitra 99 percent are literate; literacy numbers drop to 81 percent in al-Hasaka and to 78 percent among the rural populations of Deir al-Zor and al-Raqqa. Almost everywhere – except for Latakia and Tartus – women score lower than men. Again, these differences are most striking in al-Hasaka (male literacy 87.8 percent, female 75.6 percent), al-Raqqa (male literacy 85.0, female 71.2 percent) and, notably, Deir al-Zor (male literacy 86.2, female 70.2 percent).