Cabbage prices in Russia have jumped more than 63 percent since the start of this year, according to figures from the Agriculture Ministry, as inflation in Russia rises rapidly on the back of currency devaluation and a Kremlin ban on food imports from the United States and European Union.
The cost of other key vegetables has also surged: The cost of onions has risen by 38.3 percent, the cost of potatoes by 24 percent and the cost of carrots by 23.3 percent since the beginning of 2015, according to Agriculture Ministry data cited Thursday by Russian news agency Interfax.
Food price inflation has outpaced general inflation in recent months after the Kremlin embargoed food shipments from the U.S. and EU in August in response to Western sanctions.
Prices for dairy products, meat and fish have also risen significantly in recent months, according to the Agriculture Ministry, Interfax reported.
Inflation in the first two months of the year was 6.2 percent, compared to just 1.3 percent in the same period in 2014, according to figures from the Rosstat state statistics service.
Consumer prices rose 16.7 percent in February and 15 percent in January compared to the same period the year before, according to Rosstat.
The ruble has lost over 40 percent of it value against the U.S. dollar since last summer, making imports more expensive. The Central Bank has said that the monthly inflation rate could peak at 20 percent before falling back in the second half of the year.
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