Growth in consumer prices for vulnerable food groups as a threat to economic security

In the context of persisting and intensifying crisis phenomena in the economy and the accompanying dynamic inflationary rise in prices, real incomes of the population are falling rapidly, which negatively affects the standard of living and socio-economic well-being. Of paramount importance is the preservation of affordability for essential goods and, in particular, for those that are most vulnerable in the face of foreign political instability and continued dependence on a number of external factors. The market of dairy products also belongs to such areas, since the country’s dairy production in recent years has been characterized by a significant increase in costs. In the course of the study, an assessment is made of the growth in consumer prices for vulnerable groups of food products in Russia during the economic crisis, namely for dairy products, and the current trends and their socio-economic consequences are identified. It has been established that in the last 4 years, food prices have been growing more dynamically than the real incomes of the population. Extremely high growth rates were noted in 2021: price growth exceeded 11,8 %, and incomes, after a decrease of 2 %, grew only by 3,2 %, which indicates a decrease in the purchasing power of household incomes. Dairy prices, as one of the vulnerable areas, are also growing dynamically, with the periods of the highest growth being 2019, when prices rose by 6 % at once, and 2021, when the CPI almost reached 110 %. One of the primary measures within the framework of the current state policy should be the implementation of constant control over the dairy products market, not only in terms of quality, but also in terms of ensuring the affordability of dairy products for the population and the formation of reasonable prices.