Costa Rica Cost Of Living – Supermarket prices.

Amongst many other items, the basic “food basket” or “canasta básica” in Costa Rica which is used by the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Comercio (MEIC) to compare consumer prices from year to year, consists of rice, beans, sugar, coffee, corn & wheat flour, milk and toilet paper.

Thankfully the decline in the value of the US dollar against the Costa Rica colon has helped keep basic prices lower. You can always see the exchange rate quoted by the Costa Rican Central Bank here.




Just to confuse you, the the basic “food basket” (La Canasta Básica de Alimentos (CBA)) tracked by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INEC) has 45 items which just goes to show you that Costa Rica also has it’s fair share of basket cases.




The INEC list includes: Vegetable oil, Rice, Tuna, White sugar, Pork chop, Pork rib, Pork roast, Beef steak, Men’s deodorant, Laundry powder, Spaghetti, Black beans, Red beans, Soda, Corn flour, Wheat flour, Eggs, Bathroom soap, Ham, Powdered milk, 2% milk, Ground coffee, Margarine, Sausage, 12% sour cream, Toilet paper, White bread, Toothpaste, Whole chicken, Cheese, Hot dog, Ketchup, Sardines, Sanitary towels, Onion, Potato and Tomato.




But no butter?









In the chart above you will see the cost of 39 different basic items at 16 different supermarkets in Alajuela, Heredia, Cartago and San Jose.




In this example, the most expensive place to shop is clearly Muñoz & Nane in San Pedro and the Palí store in the Tres Ríos area of San Jose the cheapest…




My cost of living is high compared to most retired people as I manage a few different businesses and entertain quite frequently.




I probably do most of my shopping in AutoMercado where I believe the selection of quality produce, meats and fish is the best.

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Written by Scott Oliver, author of 1. Costa Rica Real Estate Scams & How To Avoid Them, 2. How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa, 3. Costa Rica’s Guide To Making Money Offshore and the Director/Producer of the Costa Rica Living & Retirement – Secrets To Happiness DVDs.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.