Purchasing power of income in 2026: how many products can be bought with a salary and a pension
In the first half of 2026, the average monthly income per person in Russia could purchase 311.9 kg of chicken, 183.7 kg of pork, or 99.9 kg of beef. With the same money, one could buy 667.7 liters of milk, 6,932 eggs, or 63.6 kg of butter. These are preliminary data from Rosstat. The agency takes the per capita income and divides it by the average price of each product. The simplest way to read this is: a kilogram of beef costs approximately one-hundredth of the average Russian's monthly income.
Below, we will analyze which products have become more affordable over the year and which have not, how the situation has changed since 2011, and how much of all this can be bought with an average pension. Each chart can be opened in an interactive format; links are provided nearby.
What is the purchasing power of income
The price in rubles by itself says very little. Chicken could have become 10% more expensive, but if incomes grew by 15%, it has become easier to buy. Purchasing power takes both sides into account: how many kilograms, liters, or units of a product can be acquired with monthly money.
Rosstat calculates it based on three types of income:
- per capita income: all the money of the population divided by all residents, including children and pensioners;
- average accrued salary: the income of a working person before tax deduction;
- average assigned pension.
The figures turn out differently. In 2024, the average salary could purchase 158.8 kg of beef, the income per person 114.0 kg, and the average pension 37.4 kg. If someone in a family is not working, their prosperity is closer to the second figure than the first.
Why are quarterly data lower than annual data?
Within a year, the indicator is calculated as a cumulative total from January, and incomes are distributed unevenly: bonuses and annual rewards are paid in December. Therefore, in the first quarter of 2026, income could purchase 97.1 kg of beef, while for the entire year of 2025, it amounted to 116.1 kg. It is only correct to compare identical periods: the first half of the year with the first half of the year.
What became more affordable in 2026
Let us compare the first half of 2026 with the same period in 2025. The affordability of vegetables grew the most: one can now buy 1,294 kg of potatoes with a monthly income compared to 845.8 kg a year earlier, and 1,612.2 kg of cabbage compared to 1,070.5 kg. This is an increase of 53% and 51%. A year earlier, vegetables were expensive: for the whole of 2025, income could buy 1,205.4 kg of potatoes compared to 1,453.6 kg in 2024.
Income buys 19% more butter: 63.6 kg instead of 53.5 kg. 11% more eggs, 6,932 units compared to 6,222. 15% more sugar, 21% more bananas.
Meat and milk showed more modest gains: chicken plus 6%, pork plus 6%, milk plus 8%. And at the bottom of the chart are items that became more expensive faster than incomes. One can now afford 99.9 kg of beef with a monthly income instead of 104.2 kg, and 187.8 kg of frozen fish instead of 193.1 kg. Fermented milk products lost the most: 489.7 kg instead of 540.1 kg, a decrease of 9%. Income buys almost the same amount of wheat bread as a year ago, 596.9 kg compared to 602.9 kg.
The full table for 56 goods and services, by quarter for 2025 and 2026, is available on the page for the dataset on the purchasing power of income. There, you can select any products and compare them on a single chart.
Utility services: affordability is falling
For services, Rosstat provides not the quantity, but the change in percent compared to the previous year. A value greater than 100 means that one can pay for more of the service with their income than a year ago; less than 100 means that the tariff grew faster than income.
In the first half of 2026, all utility lines are below one hundred. Electricity 96.6, utility gas 97.9, cold water and sewage 96.3, hot water 96.6, city bus fare 97.6. In 2025, the picture was the opposite: for the year, electricity yielded 106.7, gas 105.4. For a family, this means a simple thing: food became more affordable in 2026, while the utility bill consumes a slightly larger share of income. How the tariffs themselves changed can be seen on the consumer price index chart.
Purchasing power by year: from 2011 to 2025
A long series of annual data shows that different products moved in very different ways. Access to pork and chicken grew the most. In 2011, monthly income per person could buy 102.2 kg of pork, in 2025 it was 193.6 kg, almost twice as much. There was 200.1 kg of chicken, and it became 328.5 kg.
Beef has remained almost stagnant: 94.6 kg in 2011 and 116.1 kg in 2025. Moreover, from 2015 to 2022, the line stayed around one hundred kilograms; growth only began in 2023. Income buys 85% more sunflower oil, 26% more milk, and 38% more eggs. Eggs are a separate story: in 2024, it became possible to buy fewer, 5,530 units, but in 2025, it was 7,747 immediately.
There are also opposite examples. In 2011, income could buy 83.4 kg of butter, in 2025 it was 62.1 kg, a quarter less. There is exactly the same amount of cheese as fourteen years ago: 78.1 kg. There is 20% less tea and 18% fewer nuts.
The annual series for all 56 items is available on the purchasing power chart by year.
Has clothing become more affordable than food?
For many items, yes. Women's coat: in 2011, one could buy 3.3 units with a monthly income, in 2025 it was 6.2. School jacket: 11.2 and 17.0. Children's boots or shoes: 11.3 and 18.4 pairs. In the first half of 2026, a school jacket costs about 6% of the monthly income per person: one can buy 16.5 of them with this income.
How much can be bought with a pension
Pension data is released less frequently; the latest year in the dataset is 2024. The average assigned pension could purchase 95.6 kg of chicken, 59.8 kg of pork, 37.4 kg of beef, 231.8 liters of milk, 1,813 eggs, and 21.3 kg of butter per month.
If compared with income per person, the difference is noticeable. A kilogram of beef costs about 1% of the average per capita income and about 2.7% of the average pension. The average salary in the same year 2024 could purchase 4.2 times more beef than a pension.
Over twelve years, the pension has also moved unevenly. It could purchase 37.1 kg of beef in 2012 and 37.4 kg in 2024, which is the same amount. There is 44% more pork, and 40% less butter: 21.3 kg against 35.6 kg. For details by year, see the dataset on the purchasing power of pensions, and the pension amount itself is analyzed in the article on the average pension by year.
Questions and answers
How does Rosstat calculate purchasing power?
It takes the average monthly income (per capita, salary, or pension) and divides it by the average consumer price of a product for the same period. The result is how many units of a product can be purchased if all the money is spent on it. This is a conventional measure, not advice on how to eat: it is needed to compare years and products with each other.
Why is beef less affordable than pork and chicken?
The price of beef grew faster. Since 2011, the affordability of chicken has increased by 64%, pork by nearly twice, and beef by 23%. In 2026, beef turned out to be among the few products that could be purchased in smaller quantities with income than a year earlier.
Where can I see data for my region?
Rosstat has a separate table by constituent entities. It is on the website in the dataset on the purchasing power of income by region. You can calculate how prices have grown over any period in the inflation calculator.
In brief
- In the first half of 2026, the monthly income per person could purchase 311.9 kg of chicken, 183.7 kg of pork, 99.9 kg of beef, and 667.7 liters of milk.
- Over the year, the affordability of potatoes and cabbage grew the most, by more than half; butter by 19%, and eggs by 11%.
- Beef, fish, and fermented milk products became more expensive faster than incomes grew. Utility services also became less affordable in 2026.
- Since 2011, it has become possible to buy 1.6 times more chicken and 1.9 times more pork with one's income, while butter affordability has decreased by a quarter.
- The average pension in 2024 could purchase 37.4 kg of beef, the same amount as in 2012.
Source of all figures: Rosstat.