In Russia, during the holiday season, people need to be more vigilant: people pay attention to prices and look for bargains. Some like Elena, 51, don’t buy “that the products on sale“; others like Olga, 47, make small sacrifices:”I buy the same products as before, except maybe the pies and cakes. I try to buy less. “
The prices of basic products have indeed taken the lift during the year. Plus 12% for meat, 6% for milk, 35% for potatoes, 11% for buckwheat which the Russians are very fond of. On the other hand, the price of vegetables is down by 32% and that of fruits by 4%.
A return of inflation observed around the world which comes from the recovery effect, following the shutdown of the global economy because of the Covid. In Russia, more than half of the 8% inflation the country is experiencing is due to the fact that imported products are more expensive. But for Natalia Orlova, the chief economist of Alfabank in Moscow, there are also local factors to take into account: “The unemployment rate has fallen a lot in Russia, which reflects Russian growth which is over 4% this year.“
“The relatively rapid growth this year has pushed wages up and I think that’s indeed contributing to the rise in inflation as well.”
Natalia Orlova, Chief Economist of Alfabankto franceinfo
While inflation in general amounts to 8%, it reaches 11% for all food products.
Part of the population is reduced to food sacrifices, because wages do not increase for everyone. Sadly. Oxana, 53, admits that this year she had to make drastic choices: “I can buy the basic products, but unfortunately the good products that make me happy like cheese, good fish, good meat, I can no longer afford it as before, rarely or very rarely.“
Resigned, the most modest Russians have no choice. And even if the government takes measures in the future to strengthen their purchasing power, they know that they will not allow them to fully catch up with rising inflation.