Hyperinflation/Archive

Cases / The end of communism / Russia

Russia
1992–1994

When the Soviet Union ended, prices had been fixed for decades while savings and money piled up with nothing to buy.

245%prices in the worst monthJanuary 1992
17.0 daysfor prices to doubleat the peak (Hanke & Krus)
Jan 1992above 50% a monththe hyperinflation itself
1banknotes in the collectionRuble

Currency reform: 1 ruble = 1,000 old rubles (1998) · Cause: Price liberalisation releasing a Soviet money overhang · Resolution: One month above 50%, then years of high inflation

In short

On 2 January 1992, Russia lifted most price controls. Prices jumped 245 % in January 1992 (H&K; doubling every 17.0 days), and that single month is the whole hyperinflation by the 50 % definition. But inflation stayed in the thousands of percent for the year, about 2,500 % in 1992, and the ruble kept falling until "Black Tuesday" in October 1994.

The curve

Rubles per 1 USD, logarithmic scale: each line up is many times the one below.

100 1,000 10,000 1992 1993 1994 1992-01: 110 1992-04: 125 1992-07: 125 1992-10: 350 1992-12: 415 1993-03: 680 1993-06: 1,050 1993-09: 1,165 1993-12: 1,250 1994-03: 1,750 1994-06: 1,980 1994-09: 2,200 1994-10: 3,926 1994-12: 3,550 Worst month

Prices freed on 2 January 1992 rose 245% that month (Hanke & Krus): the only month above 50%. Inflation in 1992 was 2,509% (Wikipedia). In 1998, 1,000 old rubles became 1 new ruble. Approximate series, kept for its shape; individual points are not sourced one by one. Source: Central Bank of Russia, IMF Working Paper - Exchange Rate Determinants in Russia 1992-1993.

What happened

The events in order, with the banknotes at the date on them.

1992
2,509 % for the year.
Jan 1992
Prices rise 245 % in the month (H&K). Wikipedia reports "300 %", and about 1,000 % in the first quarter.
2 Jan 1992
"shock therapy" begins under Yegor Gaidar: most prices are freed.
11 Oct 1994
Black Tuesday, the ruble crash.
1998
Redenomination at 1,000 : 1, on the brink of the August 1998 crisis (Wikipedia, Russian ruble).

Context: why it happened

  • A monetary overhang. Under fixed Soviet prices, households and firms had piled up roubles they could not spend. Freeing prices released that pile all at once.

Consequences & lessons

  • Freeing prices does not create inflation, it shows inflation that was already there: the repressed overhang appears in one month.
  • One month above 50 % makes it a hyperinflation on paper. What ruined savers was the three years of high inflation that followed.

The banknotes

1,000 rubles, USSR State Bank
1,000 rubles, USSR State Bank

The data

figurevaluesource
Hyperinflation (≥ 50%/month)January 1992 onlyH&K
Peak monthly inflation245 %H&K
Doubling time at peak17.0 daysH&K
Price liberalisation2 Jan 1992Wikipedia (Economy of Russia)
Annual 19922,509 %Wikipedia (Economy of Russia)
Redenomination1998, 1 RUB = 1,000 RURWikipedia (Russian ruble)
The series, point by point
Monthper $
1992-01110
1992-04125
1992-07125
1992-10350
1992-12415
1993-03680
1993-061,050
1993-091,165
1993-121,250
1994-031,750
1994-061,980
1994-092,200
1994-103,926
1994-123,550
Case data (JSON)Series (CSV)Banknotes (ZIP)
Cite this case
“Russia 1992–1994”, Hyperinflation Archive, hyperinflation.rogzy.org/russia-1992-1994/ (2026). Figures: Hanke & Krus (2012) and the sources listed below.

Sources

  1. Hanke & Krus (2012) — episode, peak, doubling time.
  2. Wikipedia, "Russian ruble" (read 2026-10-05): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_ruble
  3. Wikipedia, "Economy of Russia" §1990s (read 2026-10-05): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Russia

H&K = Hanke, S. H. & Krus, N. (2012), World Hyperinflations, Cato Institute Working Paper no. 8.