The majority of Russian regions reported an increase in annual inflation in January 2021, ranging from 2.7% % in Chukotka to 8.2% in the Republic of Dagestan. The nationwide average growth in consumer prices accelerated to 5.2%.
Inflation accelerated on the back of countrywide factors such as rising production costs, increased economic activity against the backdrop of improved epidemic conditions and the pent-up effects of the weakening of the ruble. In this way, growing demand across most regions acted to raise prices for clothes and footwear, furniture, and construction materials.
At the same time, regional factors still account for the diversity of inflation processes. Incidentally, the regulatory measures to introduce sugar and sunflower oil price caps made a non-uniform impact across regions. These products saw their price growth rates decline in all constituent territories. The measures however made the greatest difference for inflation slowdown in Central and Southern Russia regions, where federal price limits were set. In eastern regions, a normalisation in supplies from China helped reduce price growth.
Further details of inflation trends in Russian regions are given in information and analytical reviews on the Bank of Russia website.
This news item was originally published by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR RU). For more information, please see the Source Link.
