3 September 2026
Basic food products, which form the basis of Russian citizens’ consumer baskets, continue to rise in price faster than official inflation.
The minimum set of 33 food products, which Rosstat uses to compare inflation across regions and distribute subsidies for free school lunches, increased in price by 8.5% between January and July of this year, according to data from Rosstat’s Unified Interdepartmental Information and Statistical System (EMISS).
With inflation at 4.75% (for the seven months since the beginning of the year), the rate of price growth for Rosstat’s “minimum set,” which includes meat, milk, cereals, eggs, fruits, and vegetables, was twice as high, and for certain products, it was five times higher or more. For example, chicken and fish increased in price by 11%, beef by 10%, sugar by 26%, and vegetables (potatoes, cabbage, onions, and carrots) by 27-36%. Since the beginning of the war, the price of the “minimum set” has increased by 1.5 times, according to statistics.
Russians themselves, however, estimate inflation to be approximately twice as high as the official figures. According to Rosstat, inflation has been around 50% since the beginning of 2022, while public opinion estimates it to be 104% (according to monthly surveys conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) for the Central Bank of the Russian Federation). An August FOM survey for the Central Bank showed that food remains at the top of people’s inflation complaints: 45% note a “very strong” increase in the price of meat and poultry—even more often than gasoline. Thirty-three percent cited fish and seafood, and 28% cited fruits and vegetables. Forced to spend almost 40%
of their expenses on food , a record share in the last 16 years, Russian consumers have gone into austerity mode since last year, cutting even their food expenses. According to Evotor, in the first half of the year , the number of purchases at convenience stores fell by 10%, and at specialty grocery stores by 5%. Major retail chains—Pyaterochka, Perekrestok, and Lenta— experienced the decline in traffic, while premium supermarkets— VkusVill and Azbuka Vkusa—saw the most noticeable decline. The population is shifting to a savings-based consumption model, notes Alexander Samuilov, chief analyst at T-Investments: “Shoppers are cutting back on discretionary spending and choosing more affordable items. This is putting the greatest pressure on premium grocery chains and demand for non-essential goods.”
The Federal Antimonopoly Service is already investigating rising sugar prices, but authorities are unable to slow the price increases for all products. Chicken producers are trying to offset declining profitability by increasing prices (chicken has already approached the price of pork). The rise in beef prices is due to a reduction in livestock, which cannot be increased quickly, according to Central Bank analysts. Fruit and vegetable price increases are above normal seasonality, they note.
Those creatures in mafia land should starve.
Barely doing worse than some families in the U.S. I used to buy coffee here for 5-7$, now it’s 15-17 for same size same brand. 😡
I should also note that this change has been over the course of the last 18 months.
Wal*Mart has coffee for about $10.
I managed to get cafe bustelo on sale for 10$.
No coffee is worth 10 bucks.
No coffee is worth 15-17 bucks.
#@$*!/π÷∆ orange convict my prescriptions went up too.
So true! 👍
And what does the orange con do…. Renovate a frickin bowling alley. 😡
To the tune of 300,000$ 😤
He’s human trash, plain and simple.