Russian food manufacturers and major retail chains are increasingly turning to “shrinkflation”—reducing package sizes while keeping prices unchanged—masking the real scale of inflation and eroding household budgets, according to new estimates from the Russian Consumers Union (SPRF) on November 17.
The practice now costs shoppers over $12.3 billion annually, or roughly 3% of all food expenditures, the union reported.
“The product gets thinner, but the price stays the same,” SPRF noted, adding that most consumers “simply don’t notice they’re paying the same amount for less.”
Shrinkflation has spread across nearly all food categories—from pantry staples to dairy and confectionery—confirmed Stanislav Bogdanov, head of the Association of Retail Trade Companies (AKORT). Producers are cutting package sizes to absorb rising costs while preserving familiar price tags.
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The Moscow Times highlights that the trend is especially visible in beverages, said Ilya Mosyagin, a senior lecturer at the Institute of International Economic Relations. Standard soft-drink bottle sizes have shrunk from 0.5 to 0.45 liters. Tea, coffee, cooking oil, and pasta producers have reduced quantities by 10–20% without changing prices.
Research firm NTech reported that average food package sizes decreased by 3% this year, after a 1% drop in 2024.
For the first time in years, Russia’s food sales declined in real terms as households entered full austerity mode. According to Romir, 68% of consumers now search for discounts and promotions and 58% have stopped buying products they previously purchased.
A Gallup poll found that 31% of Russians say they do not have enough money for food—one of the highest levels in recent years.
Mosyagin expects shrinkflation to become systemic and intensify in 2026 as production costs rise and companies hunt for ways to disguise price increases.
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“Shrinkflation is becoming an additional factor of social tension,” he said. “It hits the hardest those with fixed incomes and low-income families, who already spend most of their budgets on basic groceries.”
SPRF is calling on the government to establish nationwide regulations aimed at curbing hidden pricing practices. Its recommendations include mandatory unit-price labeling, expressed per kilogram or liter, and strict requirements that all price tags, including promotional ones, be presented in a uniform font, size, and color.
Earlier, it was reported that Russians are increasingly feeling the country’s economic difficulties, with expectations dropping sharply, according to a survey by the Public Opinion Foundation, which conducts monthly polls for the Central Bank on inflation, consumer confidence, and savings attitudes, and quarterly surveys on four key economic indicators, calculating indices of economic outlook.
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