Costa Rica registers negative inflation in 2015

Costa Rica ended 2015 with a negative inflation rate, thanks in large part to lower fuel and electricity costs, according to figures released by the National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC) on Friday.

It marks the first time Costa Rica has registered negative inflation since 1965 – exactly 50 years ago.

In eight of the 12 months last year, the prices of various products and services used to make up the index were in the negative, leading to an end-of-the-year variation of -0.81 percent.

“We saw an important decrease in electrical services and fuels such as gasoline and diesel in the first and second halves,” said Oddet Navarro, spokeswoman for the Price Index program at INEC.

Food products, namely produce, also saw decreases, along with bus fares, she said.

In 2014, annual inflation was 5.13 percent. Costa Rica’s highest rate of inflation in the past decade was registered in 2008 at a rate of 13.9 percent.