Large families spend almost half of their income on food

This is due to an increase in VAT and rising food prices at the end of 2025

In the fourth quarter of 2025, a Russian family with three or more children spent 42.2% of their income on food. This is the highest figure in 15 years, as follows from Rosstat data on household consumer spending, which was drawn to the attention of Vorstka.

This figure was higher only in 2010, when families with three children spent 35.3% of their income on food, and families with four or more children spent 45.3%. Such expenses were a temporary jump - they rose in 2010, fell in 2011 and never reached 40% in subsequent years. At the end of 2024, spending on food accounted for 35.7% of the income of large families.

In order not to miss new texts from “Layout”, subscribe to our telegram channel

Rising food costs force families to save on education and housing

Spending on food increased by 6.6 percentage points after the VAT increase and food price increases at the end of 2025. More money began to be spent on almost all categories of products - bread, meat, milk, eggs, butter, vegetables, sweets.

At the same time, families began to save on education, cafes, entertainment and repairs. For example, in 2024, the average large family spent 9.5% of their income on entertainment, and in 2025 - 5.3%.

Pensioners spend a record amount of money on food. In the fourth quarter of 2025, a single Russian pensioner spent almost half of his pension on food - 48.3%, in 2024 - 48.8%. This is the highest figure since at least 2015, from which Rosstat provides data, when pensioners spent 47.7% of their income on food.

Earlier, “Verstka” reported that the rise in prices observed by Russians in November was almost twice as high as official inflation. Russians surveyed in November 2025 by the Public Opinion Foundation noted that meat, fish, seafood, vegetables and fruits had become more expensive. Some medicines, hygiene items, clothing and cars have also increased significantly in price .

Photo: Assortment of the Pyaterochka supermarket. X5

You can support “Layout” from any country in the world - it is still safe and very important. We really need your support now