December 31, 2019, 15:23 / Economics

The Central Bank calculated inflation at the end of 2019

Annual inflation in Russia at the end of 2019 slowed to 3% (from 3.5% recorded in November), according to the Central Bank website. At the end of 2017, inflation was 2.5% against the backdrop of a record harvest; at the end of 2018, this figure was at 4.3%.

In turn, according to preliminary data from Rosstat, inflation in Russia accelerated to 0.4% in December after 0.3% in November, 0.1% in October and a decrease of 0.2% in September and August. The cost of food products increased by 0.7% in December, and by 2.6% in 2019 (4.7% in 2018). The increase in prices for non-food products in December was 0.1%, at the end of the year - 3% (4.1% in 2018). Services in December increased in price by an average of 0.2%, at the end of 2019 - by 3.8% (3.9% in 2018), Interfax notes. Rosstat will present final data on inflation on January 10.

The Ministry of Economic Development expects that by the end of 2020 the price increase will be 3%, while the Central Bank predicts inflation in the range of 3.5–4.0% in the reporting period.

On Tuesday, December 31, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Russia has managed to stop the downward trend in the level of well-being of citizens. “The level of well-being of Russians has either been marking time or declining in the last three to four years,” Peskov noted (quoted by Interfax). According to him, it is too early to talk about any “solid growth”, but the country is experiencing a situation of “absolutely guaranteed macroeconomic stability.”