Rising prices force people to give up nutritious foods and reduce portion sizes.
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, 18 July 2026 / You don’t need an economic report or a table full of statistics. It’s enough to spend a few minutes looking at the blackboard in any market to understand how Cubans’ wallets are shrinking.
A pound of rice, that food that for decades was the centerpiece of the family table, now costs 360 pesos. Black beans reach 450 pesos. A kilogram of wheat flour exceeds 1,000 pesos. A carton of eggs is around 3,000 pesos, and a liter of vegetable oil surpasses 2,000 pesos.
Meanwhile, the average monthly salary in Cuba still does not reach 7,000 pesos.
Looking at these numbers written on a whiteboard, you realize they’re not just prices. They’re decisions. Do I buy rice or oil? Do I buy eggs or save the money for transportation? Do I cook beans today or wait until next month?
A few years ago, finding a pound of rice for 360 pesos would have seemed absurd. Today, many people read that price, sigh, and hand their bag to the vendor.
Inflation is no longer a word reserved on this island for economists. It has the face of the mother counting her bills again before entering the store. Of the retiree walking around the block again, empty-handed. Of the worker who gets paid and, before the first week is over, discovers that his salary has already lost another battle.
Official data shows that prices rose again in June, particularly for food and transportation, while the increase in the informal market continues to accelerate. Accumulated inflation continues to erode the purchasing power of wages and pensions, and the feeling on the street is that prices are rising much faster than income.
The hardest part is that there are those who end up getting used to it.
A few years ago, finding a pound of rice for 360 pesos would have seemed absurd. Today, many people read that price, sigh, and hand their bag to the vendor. Our capacity for astonishment is also diminishing, our skin getting thicker in the face of everyday absurdity.
Perhaps it is this that the most worrying: inflation doesn’t just make food more expensive. It also erodes expectations, forces people to forgo nutritious foods, reduces portion sizes, and turns every trip to the market into a mathematical exercise in survival.
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