Costa Rica: Year-on-year fall in consumer prices deepens in January
Latest reading: Consumer prices were down 2.5% on a year-on-year basis in January, following a 1.2% fall in the previous month. January’s reading was the weakest since August 2023.
Relative to the prior month’s figures, there were reduced price pressures for food and non-alcoholic beverages (-7.9% in annual terms vs -3.0% in December) and housing (-0.7% vs +0.9% in December). In contrast, price pressures were higher for transportation in January (-2.6% vs -3.5% in December).
Lastly, consumer prices were down 0.96% in January in month-on-month terms, following a 0.08% rise in the previous month.
Panelist insight: EIU economists commented on the outlook:
“[…] we think that the trends in 2026, including falling global energy prices, a strong currency, weak food price inflation and moderate economic growth, will keep prices falling for a third consecutive year on an annual average basis.”