Claim: Russia and Ukraine had single-digit inflation during the war
Source: Alhassan Abdul-Fatawu (Yendi MP)
Verdict: Misleading
Researched by Gifty Danso
The Member of Parliament for the Yendi constituency, Alhassan Abdul-Fatawu, has claimed that Russia and Ukraine experienced single-digit inflation during the war between the two countries.
Speaking as a panelist on Citi TV’s Big Issue programme on March 14, 2026, he said:
“When we were in the heat of the crisis in this country, a crisis that was attributed to the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the song was always sung that it was as a result of the war that was why we were in that crisis, we kept saying that even the countries that were involved in the crisis at the time, they had their inflation figures within single-digit ranges. How come we those that are seen to be 7000 miles away, we are in the 50s, inflation of 50s and 40s. Everything that happened was attributed to the Russian/Ukraine war.
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“And you see Ghanaians still ask them, that today as we speak, the Russian-Ukraine war is still in place, but we now have inflation being at single digit consistently for over 14 months,” he said (between 02:43:22 and 02:46:32).
This fact-check will verify the claim that Russia and Ukraine had single-digit inflation during the war.
Fact-check
GhanaFact relied on annual inflation data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for both countries.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The conflict is still raging despite efforts to reach a political resolution after five years.
In 2022, when the war started, both countries had annual inflation rates in double-digits. According to data from the IMF, Russia’s annual inflation rate for 2022 reached 18.2% (archived here) while Ukraine recorded 20.2% (archived here).
Both countries recorded single-digit inflation in 2021, the year before the war started. After the double-digits in 2022, Russia’s rate dropped to 8% while Ukraine ended 2023 with 12.8% annual inflation. Russia and Ukraine ended 2024 with 9.3% and 6.5% annual inflation respectively.
Inflation rates since the Russia-Ukraine war began in 2022
| Year | Russia | Ukraine |
| 2021 | 6.7% | 9.4% |
| 2022 | 18.2% | 20.2% |
| 2023 | 8% | 12.8% |
| 2024 | 9.3% | 6.5% |
Source of data – IMF dashboard
From the table and accompanying visualization, it’s clear that both countries did not record single digit inflation consistently throughout the war.
When GhanaFact contacted the Yendi MP with our findings, he responded: “In 2024 when we were in the heat of the campaign and when we were challenging the NPP’s continued reliance on the war, both countries had single digit inflation. Ukraine had 6.5% whereas Russia had 9.5%.
“In my submission, I wasn’t specific on the year but at least the election year was the hottest moment for that argument and not the year the war started. At that time, we were doing inflation figures in 20s.”
Verdict
The MP’s claim is therefore misleading.
