Named products-record holders for price growth last year

The official annual inflation rate last year was 11.9%. However, a whole group of goods and services has risen in price several times above this mark. Prices soared the most for travel, iodine, matches, hygiene products and cars. At the same time, Rosstat also spoke about sharply cheaper goods, most of which belong to the so-called “borscht set” – cabbage, potatoes, beets, garlic. What caused such results and what other products may rise in price in the future, experts told MK.

Rosstat tracked price changes for almost 560 goods and services over the previous twelve months. The main surge in price increases, according to the agency, occurred in March-June last year, that is, at the time after the start of the special operation in Ukraine, when, due to the introduction of a large number of sanctions and the disruption of supply chains, problems with the import of goods became acute.

The seven most expensive goods in the past year are as follows:

iodine increased in price by 55.2%;

matches – by 50.6%;

toilet soap – by 44.2%;

women’s pads – by 43.5%;

new cars of foreign production (foreign cars) – by 39.1%;

deodorants — by 38.8%;

margarine – by 38.5%.

It is surprising that it was iodine that became the commodity that rose in price in Russia most of all – after all, our country ranks fifth in the world in terms of its reserves. “However, the production of iodine in Russia provides only 15% of domestic demand,” explains Maxim Osadchiy, head of the analytical department at BKF-Bank. — Chile was one of the main importers of iodine to Russia. In 2022, this channel for the supply of iodine to our country was closed. Accordingly, there was an iodine deficiency, which led to an increase in the price.” The second group of goods in terms of price increase was various hygiene products. As the expert pointed out, in April 2022, the EU introduced the 5th package of sanctions, under which pad manufacturers lost supplies of fluff pulp. I had to urgently arrange the import of gaskets from China and Turkey, which also led to an increase in prices. And the 8th package of EU sanctions, introduced in October 2022, included a ban on the supply of soap to Russia.

The third important group of goods that have risen in price are foreign cars. “The rise in prices for imported cars is also associated with sanctions,” Osadchy continues the conversation. – Russians instead of high-quality German cars – Mercedes, BMW, Audi, etc. – are forced to buy Chinese hawals, jeely and cherry of dubious quality, but at a high price. Parallel imports partly help to reduce the severity of the shortage, but due to the complexity of logistics and the emergence of new intermediaries, it leads to an increase in import prices.” The same Mercedes cars are no longer bought by Russians in Germany, but in Armenia, which contributes to an unprecedented rise in the GDP of this small but proud republic. So the main source of price growth in 2022 is the sanctions that led to the destruction of supply chains, the expert is sure.

At the same time, a sharp drop in prices for a number of goods and services was also recorded in 2022. For example, the cost of cabbage decreased by 53%, potatoes – by 31%, beets – by 26%, carrots – by 17%. All these products, as you can easily see, are included in the so-called “borscht set” and are mostly produced in Russia. Thanks to a good harvest in the summer, prices for these vegetables have dropped significantly. At the same time, gas motor fuel and some building materials fell in price by 35%, in particular, particle boards fell in price by almost 23%, boards – by 14%. From this list, it can be understood that in areas where Russia has its own production or where an import substitution program has been implemented, prices have been declining in the past year. “For how many years they have been talking about the need for import substitution, and when the thunder struck, it turned out that in many industries it is necessary to create production almost from scratch,” concludes Osadchy.

According to the Dean of the Faculty of International Economic Relations of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Pavel Seleznev, on the one hand, the “high base” effect of 2021 had an effect on a noticeable decrease in the cost of these goods – that is, in the previous period, prices for a number of goods and products increased significantly, which not in the best way reflected in demand and thus prompted the conditional “seller” to reduce the figure on the price tag. On the other hand, there was an overproduction of certain categories of products (for example, food), which also contributed to the fall in prices.

However, in the coming year, these favorable trends will no longer work. Therefore, according to Seleznev, in the near future we should expect an increase in the price of meat and dairy products, natural vegetables and bakery products.