cost of living

Costa Rica ranked highly in two recent surveys of top destinations for retirement for its healthy environment and relative comfort.

Economic concerns were front and center in the annual report on the state of Costa Rica, which highlighted topics like unemployment, inequality, poverty and the deficit. After 20 years of economic growth, the report’s authors said that Costa Rica has yet to make significant gains in human development.

Developing nations are no longer the devil-may-care playgrounds of yesteryear, and visitors should come prepared. Love it or hate it, the world is busier and more crowded than ever, and the guidebook publishers have been scrambling to keep up.

The executive president of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute, Carlos Obregón, on Wednesday morning said in a press conference the agency would file a request with the Public Services Regulatory Authority for a 13.2 percent increase in electricity rates for the first half of 2015. President Luis Guillermo Solís, who promised no new electricity hikes for 18 months, appeared to have no idea what Obregón was talking about.

A day after it approved rate hikes last week for the Costa Rican Electricity Institute, or ICE, the Public Services Regulatory Authority on Friday approved a decrease in electricity rates for all of the country’s electricity distributors. That change will take effect on Oct. 1.

The Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) approved a 3.7 percent increase in electricity rates requested by the Costa Rica Electricity Institute (ICE). The new rate was published in the government's official newspaper La Gaceta on Thursday.

The Costa Rican Chamber of Industries on Thursday blasted a new 3.7 percent increase in electricity rates requested by the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE). Chamber leaders urged the Public Services Regulatory Authority to reject the request, noting that ICE in July promised to cut spending and stabilize its finances in order to prevent electricity rate hikes for the next year and a half.

Although the National Meteorological Institute (IMN) confirmed a drop in rainfall levels for the current rainy season, the Costa Rica Electricity Institute (ICE) has ruled out power outages later this year.

Although President Luis Guillermo Solís had promised not to use Ticos' euphoria over Costa Rica’s performance at the World Cup to promote increases in public utility rates, a 5.38 percent hike in electricity went into effect last Tuesday.

A comparative study of prices conducted by Costa Rica's Economy Ministry (MEIC) in 48 supermarkets across the country found huge differences in prices of goods that are part of the basic food basket.