Question from FC editors: Why are prices rising faster than official inflation?
"Why is everything getting more expensive in stores, and the official inflation is about 7%? How do you calculate real inflation? - This question has reached our system.
The Financial Guard explains what Rostat measures, why industrial inflation is higher than consumer inflation and what economists say.
What does the official 7% mean?
Rostat calculates the consumer price index for a wide basket of goods and services. This is a weighted average: price increases for some items are offset by stable or falling prices for others. Therefore, 7% does not mean that every product became more expensive by the same amount.
In September 2026, annual inflation stood at 6.35%. Services increased during the year by 7.97%, non-food products - by 6.47%, food - by 5.05%. If the bulk of the budget is invested in categories that become more expensive quickly, the expenses increase significantly above average.
Industrial inflation: signal from manufacturers.
One of the most important indices is the industrial goods price index. It shows how the selling prices of enterprises change, that is, how much producers receive for their products in the local market.
In September 2026, industrial prices increased by 2.5% during the month and by 10.5% since December 2025. For comparison: consumer prices rose by 5.04% in January-September, i.e. half of that. In mining the growth was 28.2%, in industry - 8.5%.
This does not mean that store prices should increase by the same 10.5%: the manufacturer can bear some of the costs. Logistics, imports, design tags, competition and demand also affect the final cost. But the gap shows cost pressures, some of which may be passed on to buyers.
What do economists say?
The former First Vice Chairman of the Central Bank, Oleg Viugin, drew attention to the gap between moderate estimates of economic growth and the expected increase in tax revenues.