October saw a considerable leap upwards in prices for horticultural crop.

MOSCOW, November 28, 2016.  Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data of the survey devoted to Russian assessments of price increase for certain goods and services.  

The index of October prices for basic goods and services have not changed much compared to September; the highest rise was recorded for fruits and vegetables. At the same time, those Russians who purchase food products say that a year ago the inflation rate was much higher.

Except for fruits and vegetables (price increase for them was noticed by 65% over the recent month or two, including 25% of those who think that the rise was substantial), meat prices’ increase has been notable for 66% of respondents.  The October price increase indices* for these products were 43 p. and 45 p. (versus 59 p. and 60 p. in October 2015, respectively, on a scale from -100 to 100). Most of shoppers also mention rising prices for dairy products (63%, 39 p.) and baked goods (52%; 30 p.).

Slightly less than half of respondents who buy foods report an increase in prices for sugar (48%), cereals and pasta (47%); inflation perceptions are 28 p. However, 32% and 41%, respectively,   consider that prices have been stable.

Sixty-seven percent of Russians noticed rising public utilities’ charges (49 p.), however this is lower than the previous year figure (81%, 64 p.). Every second Russian mentions petrol price increase (50%; 35 p.). Public transport costs are still stable: only 29% report a fare increase of 29%, whereas 51% did not see any changes when paying travel costs (index is 20 p.).

*Price increase index shows the Russian perception of inflation. The index is calculated as a sum of answers to the question “How would you assess the increase of prices for the following goods over the recent month or two?”. The answer “prices have considerably changed” corresponds to the coefficient (-1); "prices have decreased, but not too much" - coefficient (-0.5); "prices have increased, but not too much" – coefficient (0.5); "prices have considerably increased" – coefficient (1); "prices have not changed" – coefficient (0). The index is measured in points and can vary between -100 and 100. The higher the value of index is, the higher the inflation rate is, according to Russians.

The VCIOM survey was conducted on October 29-30, 2016, in 130 settlements, 46 regions and 8 federal districts of Russia. Sample size was 1600 persons. The survey was conducted with multi-stage stratified sample based on general rule of walking and quotas at the final selection stage; the sample is representative of the Russian population aged 18 and over according to sex, age, education, type of settlement.  The margin of error (taking into account the design effect) with 95% confidence interval does not exceed 3.5%. The survey method is community-based structured face-to-face interviews. Apart from the margin of error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the field work should be taken into account.

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