A resident of Camagüey ignited social media on Saturday night by sharing on Facebook the price she was quoted for an onion in her city: 400 Cuban pesos for a single unit, and 1,200 pesos for a pound of white onion.
Yanisleidys Ulloa reported in her post that she went out to look for seasonings because she had nothing to cook, and that upon asking the price, she immediately lost the desire to buy. "400 PESOS FOR JUST ONE ONION! And the white onions at 1,200 pesos per pound. No way, I lost all interest in buying seasonings right away!" she wrote.
"I don't know what we are going to have to come up with to add flavor to the food, because at this rate we're going to have to cook with the memory of seasonings," he added.
Cubans from various provinces shared their own prices, all of which were significantly higher than any official reference. From Havana, a commentator noted that the situation was even worse there: "And it's cheap; here in Havana, it's already at 2,000 pesos per pound, meaning a white onion costs 1,400 and the purple one as well." Another person from Havana summarized it in a single word: "In Havana, 1,200 for either one. Horrible."
In Holguín, a pound of three onions was sold for 1,500 pesos—about 500 per unit—though another report from the same province placed the price at 2,000 pesos per pound. In Colón, Matanzas, the pound of white onion reached 1,500 pesos; in the city of Matanzas, it was 2,000. In Pinar del Río and Las Tunas, testimonies ranged between 1,200 and 1,500 pesos per pound. Within Camagüey itself, another commentator indicated a range between 600 and 1,200 pesos, with a small cup of pepper at 350 and a head of garlic at 100.
Without a doubt, onions have become almost a luxury in Cuba. "5 onions, the salary for 1 month," wrote a user. Another added, "You leave with your salary and can't fill a small bag, and if we talk about rice, that's another odyssey." The average monthly salary in Cuba hovers around 7,354 pesos, equivalent to less than 10 dollars at the informal exchange rate.
In early October, a resident of Havana showed a small onion priced at 610 pesos and noted that the price per pound reached 1,700 pesos. In April, another citizen reported prices of up to 900 pesos for a single onion in private carts. In September 2025, data from the National Office of Statistics and Information for August of that year already placed Camagüey among the provinces with the highest prices, with a price range of 1,000 to 1,375 pesos per pound.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages experienced an annual increase of 42.66% in September 2026, according to data from ONEI. Last week, a neighborhood market in Sagua de Tánamo, Holguín, was offering chicken at 900 pesos per pound and a carton of eggs at 3,500 pesos.
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