The Cuban regime raised the official price of a 10-kilogram liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder to 350 Cuban pesos, an increase of nearly 64% compared to the 213 pesos referenced by the independent observatory Food Monitor Program (FMP).
The measure, combined with the scarcity of this fuel, puts Cuban families in an increasingly precarious situation.
The increase was formalized through Resolution 155/2026, published in the Official Gazette, at a time when millions of Cuban families allocate nearly all their income just to survive.
Additionally, certain cylinders and accessories will start to be sold in dollars, further deepening the dollarization of essential goods.
The previous official price of the cylinder was 225 Cuban pesos, effective since March 2024, although FMP uses a reference rate of 213 pesos.
The historical rise is striking: from 110 pesos before 2021 to 180 in March of that year, then to 225 in 2024 and now to 350, a threefold increase in just five years.
The rise in fuel prices is impacting households that no longer have any leeway. According to calculations made by FMP in 2025, two adults in Havana need around 41,735 Cuban pesos per month to maintain a barely adequate diet.
And that calculation doesn't even take into account the cooking costs or other basic services that are only available on the black market.
The situation is worsening because LPG stopped being a reliable option long before this increase.
Chronic interruptions in its distribution have forced thousands of families to rely on electricity for cooking, but the power grid also collapses with blackouts lasting up to 20 to 24 hours a day in several provinces.
In the face of this double blockage—without gas and electricity—many families have turned to charcoal and firewood, alternatives that are also not accessible: a bag of charcoal can cost nearly half of the monthly salary, with prices ranging between 3,200 and 5,000 pesos depending on the province, compared to an official average salary of 6,930 pesos.
In June, gas canisters were sold for 24 dollars on platforms like KMCero and they were being resold for 50 dollars in the informal market. In July, they reached 70,000 pesos in Sancti Spíritus, according to recent reports.
The background food situation is critical. The National Food Security Survey 2025 by FMP, conducted with over 2,500 responses across the 16 provinces, revealed that one in three Cuban households had at least one member who went to bed hungry in the past year, a deterioration of 9.3 percentage points compared to 2024.
More than 60% of families altered their diets and routines, with many eliminating one daily meal.
And the dollarization of cylinders and accessories adds another layer of exclusion. "For the majority of families that depend exclusively on state salaries or pensions paid in Cuban pesos, this represents a new barrier to access," warns the observatory.
FMP concludes that "the rising cost of gas adds a new link to a chain of expenses that makes it increasingly difficult to provide something as basic as hot food at the table," in an economy where the energy crisis, inflation, and loss of purchasing power are simultaneously affecting the same households that can no longer cope.
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