COSTA RICA · INFLATION
Key Facts
- The number Prices rose 0.55% in the 12 months to October 2026, against 0.34% in September.
- The forecast Economists had expected 0.7%, so the result came in 0.15 points lower.
- The month Prices rose 0.39% in October alone, led by gasoline, diesel and taxi fares.
- Who reported INEC, Costa Rica’s national statistics institute, published it on Friday 6 November 2026.
- The catch The reading is still well below the central bank’s 2% to 4% tolerance range.
- Power Index Costa Rica ranks 9th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 35.5 points (November 2026 edition).
Costa Rica inflation rose to 0.55% in the 12 months to October 2026, the national statistics institute INEC reported on Friday 6 November. It is the second yearly rise in a row after 16 months of falling prices.
Economists had forecast 0.7%, and the previous reading was 0.34%. Fuel and transport costs did most of the work, as our September report had flagged.
Costa Rica Inflation Rose to 0.55% in October
INEC measures price changes across 293 goods and services, from gasoline to eggs. Its October index showed yearly inflation of 0.55%, up from 0.34% in September.
Prices rose 0.39% from September to October, more than the 0.11% rise a month earlier. Over the first ten months of 2026, the index is down 0.01%, essentially flat.
How the Number Compared With Forecasts
The forecast in the economic calendar of releases was 0.7% for the year to October, so the actual figure fell 0.15 percentage points short. It still beat the previous reading of 0.34% by 0.21 points.
A year earlier, prices rose 0.19% in October, so the new monthly gain of 0.39% is roughly double that pace. That base effect is part of why the yearly rate climbed.
What Pushed Prices Up
INEC says transport drove the monthly rise, with the division up 1.71%. Gasoline rose 3.10% and diesel jumped 17.39% in the month, the two largest contributors.
Taxi fares rose 5.73% and bus fares 2.02%, while entertainment tickets lifted the recreation division by 0.96%. Energy prices as a group rose 2.75%, and goods with regulated prices rose 1.99%.
What Held Prices Down
Not everything got dearer. Onions fell 10.73%, potatoes 3.50%, ground beef 2.44% and chicken breast 1.73%, according to INEC.
Of the 293 items, 45% rose in price, 33% fell and 22% did not change. Excluding food and energy, prices rose only 0.21% in the month.
The Trend Since January
Yearly inflation started 2026 at minus 2.53% in January and was still minus 0.32% in June. It turned positive in September at 0.34% and has now edged up again, as INEC data show.
That ends a long run of falling prices that we described as a fourth straight year of falling prices. Even so, inflation sits far from the central bank’s 3% target.
In Plain English, Who Is Who
INEC, the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos, is the government statistics office that compiles the consumer price index. The central bank, the Banco Central de Costa Rica or BCCR, sets interest rates to aim for 3% inflation, give or take one point.
Aresep, the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos, is the state regulator that approves pump prices for fuel. Its decisions feed straight into the transport figures that moved the October index.
What the Central Bank Expects
The BCCR kept its main interest rate at 3.0% at its September meeting and left its inflation target at 3%, plus or minus one point. The rate was still 3.00% in October, the level set by a quarter-point cut in July.
The bank’s October report says Middle East tensions and the Russia-Ukraine conflict pushed up energy prices around the world. It also says the colón appreciated in the currency market.
What It Means for You
Many US visitors, retirees and remote workers in Costa Rica spend in colones, so local price moves reach their budgets. A 0.55% yearly rise is mild, but fuel, taxis and buses are the items that moved most.
The central bank also says the colón kept appreciating this year, with dollars plentiful on the currency market. For dollar earners that means each US$1 buys fewer colones than before, which can offset some of the calm in local prices.
What Would Change the Path
The BCCR points to oil as the main swing factor, saying that tensions in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine conflict pushed up oil prices. West Texas Intermediate, the US oil benchmark, traded at US$104.4 a barrel on 30 October.
Further supply shocks or escalating geopolitical conflicts would push prices up, the bank says.
What Is Not Known
It is not known whether fuel prices keep rising, which Aresep will show in its next pump price decision. INEC will show the effect in its November index.
It is not known whether the BCCR will move its 3.0% policy rate. Its board has said it will act when conditions require, and its next rate decision will answer that.
More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Costa Rica’s inflation rate for October 2026?
Costa Rica’s yearly inflation was 0.55% in October 2026, up from 0.34% in September. Prices rose 0.39% in the month itself.
Was the October reading higher or lower than expected?
It was lower than the 0.7% economists had forecast, by 0.15 percentage points. It was still higher than the 0.34% recorded in September.
Why did Costa Rican prices rise in October?
Transport costs led the increase, with gasoline up 3.10% and diesel up 17.39% in the month. Taxi and bus fares also rose.
Is Costa Rica inflation back in the central bank’s target range?
No, 0.55% is still below the 2% to 4% tolerance range around the 3% target.
Sources: INEC Costa Rica, Índice de Precios al Consumidor, October 2026 results, 6 November 2026; Banco Central de Costa Rica, Informe de Política Monetaria, October 2026; Banco Central de Costa Rica, press release on the October policy report, 30 October 2026.
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error