The U.S. dollar has fallen to its lowest level on record against Costa Rica’s colón, extending a decline that is increasing the purchasing power of the local currency while putting more pressure on expats, retirees and businesses that earn their income in dollars. The weighted average exchange rate in Costa Rica’s Monex foreign exchange market closed yesterday at ₡447.93 per dollar, the lowest level since the Central Bank of Costa Rica began the current historical series on December 6, 2007. The previous record had been set just one day earlier, when the dollar closed at ₡448.17.
The decline has continued to show up in the rates consumers see at banks and other financial institutions. For Friday, September 11, the Central Bank’s official reference rate is ₡444.22 for buying dollars and ₡450.06 for selling them. Actual rates offered by individual banks and exchange houses vary. The latest figures mark a substantial change from the start of the year. On January 2, the first Monex session of 2026, the dollar averaged ₡497.07. Thursday’s level represents a decline of nearly 10% since then.
For foreigners living in Costa Rica and receiving pensions, salaries or other income in U.S. dollars, the effect is straightforward: each dollar now buys significantly fewer colones. Someone exchanging $2,000 at a rate near ₡448 would receive about ₡896,000. At the roughly ₡497 Monex rate seen at the beginning of the year, the same $2,000 represented about ₡994,000, a difference approaching ₡100,000 before considering the spreads charged by banks or exchange services.
The strong colón also continues to concern Costa Rica’s tourism industry. Hotels, tour operators and other tourism businesses frequently receive revenue in dollars while paying wages, utilities, taxes and many other expenses in colones. Tourism industry leaders have warned that rising visitor numbers do not necessarily translate into greater profitability when dollars convert into fewer colones. Costa Rica received just over 2 million visitors through July, up 6.4% from the same period in 2025, but tourism groups have said the exchange rate continues to squeeze operating margins.
The exchange rate has become an increasingly important competitiveness issue for Costa Rica as well. A stronger colón makes many locally priced goods and services more expensive when converted into dollars, an issue that matters as travelers compare Costa Rica with less expensive destinations elsewhere in Central America and the Caribbean. Not everyone loses from the stronger currency.
Importers benefit because they need fewer colones to purchase goods priced in dollars overseas. Costa Ricans earning colones who have mortgages, car loans or other debts denominated in dollars also need fewer colones to make the same dollar payment. The Central Bank remains active in the foreign exchange market.
During yesterday’s Monex session, $26.6 million was traded. The Central Bank purchased $17 million to meet the foreign currency requirements of the nonbank public sector and another $2.8 million through stabilization operations intended to reduce excessive pressure on the exchange rate.
The downward trend has been developing throughout 2026. Costa Rica began the year with the dollar below ₡500 for the first time at the start of a calendar year since 2008, and repeated record lows have followed. For those who depend on dollars, that makes the exchange rate increasingly difficult to ignore. A household receiving the same dollar income it earned at the beginning of the year now has considerably fewer colones available to pay rent, groceries, utilities and other locally priced expenses.
Whether the dollar continues falling will depend on conditions in Costa Rica’s foreign exchange market and the balance between the supply and demand for dollars. For now, however, the colón is stronger against the U.S. currency than at any point in the Central Bank’s nearly two-decade Monex series.
