A Cuban woman shared a video on TikTok on Wednesday, starkly highlighting the island's economic woes: she embarked on a routine shopping trip and ended up spending a staggering 30,350 Cuban pesos, roughly equivalent to $46. The opening message of the clip sums up the situation: "The hardest part about shopping in Cuba isn't finding the products, it's affording them."
The user, known as @lili.cubana, displayed a list of basic items in the video: oil, spaghetti, powdered milk, sugar, rice, Goya seasoning, detergents, toothpaste, laundry soap, and bath soap. These are everyday necessities for any household, yet their total cost exceeds four months' average salary in Cuba, where the official average income hovers around 6,930 pesos, less than $13 at the informal exchange rate.
"Every time I go shopping, I ask myself the same question: how much longer will prices keep rising?" the video’s creator remarks. Her approach to managing this uncertainty is to buy in bulk, "not because I have extra money, but because you never know how much things will cost next week."
Escalating Costs Amid Economic Turmoil
This uncertainty is grounded in hard numbers. The exchange rate for the dollar on Cuba's informal market surged from 435 pesos in December 2025 to 670 pesos by July 7, 2026, indicating a rapid devaluation that further erodes the purchasing power of those relying on Cuban pesos. In just 48 hours, the price of a 25 kg sack of rice increased from 30,000 to 31,800 pesos, and a liter of oil jumped from 1,150-1,400 pesos to 1,800 pesos.
The government exacerbated the situation in June by lifting retail price caps on cut chicken, oils, and powdered milk through Resolution 150/2026, leaving these goods subject to market forces without any official checks.
"You used to shop with an idea of what you were going to spend; now you go out with a budget, and it almost never suffices," the Cuban woman notes in the video. This description aligns with independent economists' estimates that suggest meeting basic needs in Cuba requires about 96,060 pesos monthly, nearly 14 times the official average salary.
A Growing Social Outcry on Social Media
In this context, the 30,350 pesos spent, as shown in the video, is not an extraordinary expenditure: it's merely a third of what one person would need per month to survive, according to the same estimates.
In 2026, the trend of Cubans posting their shopping experiences on social media has emerged as a form of social protest. In June, a video by user @mily_pastel showcasing a $180 shopping trip in Camagüey garnered over 1.3 million views, bringing international attention to the gap between wages and prices on the island.
In response to the crisis, Díaz-Canel's government announced a minimum wage increase to 3,210 pesos in June—up 53% from 2021—and declared that the subsidized basic food basket would be limited to retirees, families with chronically ill children, and vulnerable individuals, ending the widespread subsidy that had historically cushioned the impact of prices for many Cubans.
"It's when it's time to pay that you really feel the punch to the wallet," concludes the video maker, summarizing the weekly ordeal faced by millions of Cubans at the store shelves.
Understanding Cuba's Economic Challenges
How much did a basic shopping trip cost in Cuba as shown in the TikTok video?
The shopping trip cost 30,350 Cuban pesos, approximately $46.
What are some of the basic items purchased in the video?
The items included oil, spaghetti, powdered milk, sugar, rice, Goya seasoning, detergents, toothpaste, and soaps.
What economic changes did the Cuban government implement in response to the crisis?
The government raised the minimum wage to 3,210 pesos and limited the subsidized basic food basket to specific vulnerable groups.