Regional Economy report: price growth and consumer demand remain high
The growth rate of consumer prices and inflation expectations stay high. Economic activity was increasing in December 2024—January 2025, but companies’ expectations about output became more moderate. The accumulated effect of higher interest rates caused a slowdown in lending.
However, consumer demand remains high. This encourages companies to expand the output of consumer goods, specifically clothing in Central Russia, furniture in the Volga-Vyatka macroregion, pharmaceuticals in the North-West, dairy products in the South, and meat products in Siberia.
Unemployment stays at a record low. The new issue of the report Regional Economy: Commentaries by Bank of Russia Main Branches covers a special topic — labour market prospects.
Other topics of the issue are producer prices and price expectations in various industries and trends in the construction materials and special machinery markets.