Costa Rica: Inflation accelerates in December
In December, consumer prices increased 0.47% month-on-month, up from November’s 0.16% increase. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC), December’s increase was primarily caused by higher prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages. On the other hand, decreases in prices for miscellaneous goods and services, clothing and footwear, communications and healthcare kept a lid on the overall rise in consumer prices in December.
Inflation accelerated slightly to 2.6% in December (November: 2.5%) but remained in the Central Bank’s 2.0%–4.0% target range. Meanwhile, annual average inflation ticked up to 1.6% (November: 1.5%).