A Cuban resident on the island documented on TikTok what she was able to buy with the money sent to her by a follower, in a video that starkly reveals the collapse of purchasing power in Cuba.
Yanet Diary (@yanet_diary83) posted a 53-second clip on Tuesday with a detailed list of staple products: two bags of rice at 700 pesos each, one kilogram of beans at 900 pesos, one kilogram of sugar at 750 pesos, one kilogram of bulk salt at 350 pesos, one liter of oil at 1,300 pesos, coffee at 2,000 pesos, one can of tomato paste at 600 pesos, one kilogram of detergent at 1,300 pesos, and two soaps at 200 pesos.
The total of that "weekly shopping," as Yanet herself called it, amounts to around 8,100 Cuban pesos, equivalent to a little over 12 dollars at the current informal exchange rate of approximately 655 pesos per dollar.
The figure is devastating when compared to the average monthly salary in Cuba, which is around 6,930 pesos—about 13 dollars—meaning that a single weekly purchase of essential products nearly consumes an entire month's income.
"Before this video ends, I want to thank that very special follower for sending me some money for this week's groceries," Yanet said in the clip, also expressing her gratitude for the support from her community on the platform.
The video was published just three days after the Cuban regime lifted, through the Resolution 150/2026, the price caps on chicken, oil, powdered milk, pasta, and sausages, a measure signed by the Minister of Finance and Prices, Vladimir Regueiro Ale.
Days earlier, President Miguel Díaz-Canel had acknowledged the failure of price controls, admitting that they led to the disappearance of products from the market and even higher prices in the illegal market.
The situation depicted by Yanet is not exceptional. According to the Food Monitor Program, the monthly basic basket for two people in Havana exceeds 41,000 pesos, while independent economists estimate that the minimum cost of living per person surpasses 50,000 pesos per month, which is about seven times the average salary.
The trend of documenting purchases on TikTok has become a form of social protest among Cubans living on the island. Similar cases include that of a doctor who spent her entire monthly salary in a single day on basic necessities, and Keyla González, who demonstrated that with 10 dollars she could only buy cleaning products, some soft drinks, and bread.
In all these cases, the dependence on remittances or donations from abroad seems to be the only cushion against salaries that barely cover a week's worth of food.
The official year-on-year inflation recorded in May 2026 was 15.89%, although independent estimates place the real inflation in the informal market at around 70%, a gap that highlights the discrepancy between the regime's figures and the reality faced by millions of Cubans every time they go to the market.
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