A Cuban who posts on TikTok under the name El Cubanito Sin Filtro recorded what he was able to purchase with the monthly basic salary of a worker on the island: five bags of rice.
«How can a Cuban survive on six dollars a month?», asks the creator in the video, published on May 15, referring to the dollar equivalent of the official minimum wage at that time: 2,100 Cuban pesos per month.
The record clearly shows that with that income, it is not even enough to cover the most basic elements of the basic diet.
The creator details that a pack of chicken costs a full salary, just like a pack of coffee, not to mention hygiene items such as toothpaste, soap, deodorant, or detergent, which represent additional expenses that this income cannot cover.
The situation worsens when it comes to clothing: "A sweater in Cuba costs exactly one full salary, and if it's fashionable, it will cost you double the salary," he notes. A pair of shoes, he adds, would require almost five months of work at the basic salary.
His conclusion sums up the reality of millions: "If you eat, you don't dress; and if you dress, you don't eat. A Cuban doesn't live, they survive."
The video is set against the backdrop of a crisis in purchasing power that official data confirms. The year-on-year inflation in Cuba was 158.9% in May 2026, according to figures from the regime cited by Infobae, while prices in the informal market — where the majority of Cubans shop — remain far above any state income.
The Cuban regime officially announced an increase in the minimum wage to 3,210 pesos per month through Resolution 14/2026, effective from July 1, although payments would actually be made in August. This increase represents a 53% rise compared to the previous minimum, but at the informal exchange rate in July 2026—between 690 and 695 pesos per dollar—this new minimum only amounts to 4.65 dollars a month, or about 16 cents a day.
The gap between salaries and real prices is staggering. Independent calculations estimate that a person needs around 96,000 pesos monthly to cover their basic needs, of which more than 70,000 would be solely for food. This means that the new minimum wage covers less than 4% of that basic basket.
Prices in the informal market illustrate why salaries are insufficient: rice has reached 360 pesos per pound, chicken is around 500 pesos per pound, and a package of coffee is reported to be around 2,000 pesos. A 100 ml tube of Colgate toothpaste has cost as much as 1,680 pesos in private establishments.
In terms of clothing, a pair of pants reached a price of up to 34,000 pesos in the Cuban market during 2026, more than ten times the previous minimum wage and more than ten times the new one.
The official average salary in Cuba was 6,930 pesos per month in 2025, equivalent to less than 13 dollars at the informal exchange rate, according to data collected by Infobae, which places the majority of Cuban workers well below any threshold for a dignified standard of living.
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