Russia catches up with EU on food prices

Russia has approached a number of European Union countries in terms of food prices and has already surpassed Europe for some items at the beginning of 2026.

Source: The Moscow Times, an independent Amsterdam-based news outlet

Details: In 10 European countries – Romania, Poland, Czechia, Portugal, Lithuania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia and Spain – half or more of basic goods cost the same as in Russia or less.

In other countries, for example, Germany, a litre of milk in the Lidl chain costs one and a half times less than in Russia's Pyaterochka chain, where the average price per litre is RUB 132 (US$1.70).

In Czechia and Spain, milk prices were also lower, at the equivalent of RUB 89 and 108 respectively (US$1.15 and US$1.39)

The most noticeable difference was recorded for tomatoes: a kilogram in Pyaterochka costs more than RUB 500 (US$6.47), which is twice their price in Europe.

Bottled water, bananas, cheese, potatoes, white rice, greens, wine, apples, oranges and lettuce are also cheaper in the EU. Chicken fillet costs roughly the same.

The median salary in Russia in 2025 stood at RUB 64,500 (about €710), while in Germany the comparable figure after tax is approximately €2,600, and in Poland and Czechia about RUB 120,000 (US$1,500).

As a result, Russians spend on average 32% of their monthly expenditure on food, whereas in the EU the share is significantly lower, from 11.6% in Germany to 25.1% in Romania.

The sharp rise in prices in Russia became especially noticeable after VAT increased from 20% to 22% in January this year: from 22 December 2025 to 2 February 2026, food prices rose on average by 3.4%, twice the rate recorded a year earlier.

State statistics indicate that over four years of the full-scale war, food prices rose on average by 35% amid cumulative inflation of about 40%. The largest increases were recorded for fish, bananas, margarine, beef and cucumbers, while only four items became cheaper – carrots, beetroot, cabbage and buckwheat.

Averaged statistics often do not reflect real shop prices: for example, Russia's Federal State Statistics Service estimates a litre of pasteurised milk at 98 roubles (US$1.27), while in Pyaterochka it costs about 132 roubles (US$1.70), and a kilogram of tomatoes more than 500 roubles (US$6.47) compared with the official 257.

Background: Sanctions, the loss of foreign markets and worsening global conditions have exposed the structural weakness of Russia's regional budgets, which are no longer able to meet basic obligations.

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