The producer prices index (PPI), a measure of costs in the manufacturing sector, increased 0.9% in February, the first month-on-month rise since April 2022.
On an annual basis, the PPI fell 7.5% in February, Rosstat said. In the same month last year, the index had risen 23.7% year on year.
The cost of oil and natural gas production was 3% higher in February, with metal ore extraction costs up 7.3%, the data showed.
A separate set of Rosstat data showed that consumer prices climbed faster in the week to March 20, increasing by 0.1% after a rise of 0.02% in the previous week.
Russia's central bank held its key interest rate at 7.5% last Friday, maintaining its hawkish rhetoric as a widening budget deficit and labour shortages pose inflationary risks, and said rate hikes were more likely than cuts this year. Since the start of the year, consumer prices have risen 1.42%, a slower pace than in the same period of 2022, Rosstat said.
Russian households regularly cite inflation as their main concern, with many having no savings, after a decade of economic crises and rising prices dragged living standards down across the country. Russia's annual inflation rate in 2022 was 11.9%, almost three times the government's official 4% target. The central bank forecasts inflation will be 5-7% this year, falling to 4% in 2024. (Reporting by Alexander Marrow and Darya Korsunskaya; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
