Costa Rica

As Costa Rica confronted some of the highest inflation registered in decades, the energy drinks category saw a notable increase in unit prices. Nevertheless, energy drinks has managed to see a solid performance overall. Penetration of energy drinks…

Ageing, urbanisation and migration continue to be major factors shaping the global population. The number of seniors around the world kept expanding in 2021 and is expected to grow further in the years to 2040. The number of small children is…

The premium segment continued to outperform its mass counterpart in volume and current value growth terms in fragrances in Costa Rica in 2023. While this was mainly because sales in the former were increasing from a much lower base, premium brands…

Leading player Wal-Mart continued to invest in expanding Palí and Maxi Pali in 2022, opening new locations nationwide. Between January to September, nine stores in different parts of the country were opened: seven Palí stores and two Maxi Palí. The…

Consumers continue to conscious about discretionary income in 2023, with the higher price of gum an issue for the less affluent. Gum is not an essential item among Costa Ricans, and so it is easy to reduce consumption, and instead, is more popular as…

Shampoos was the most dynamic of the main hair care categories in Costa Rica in terms of volume and current sales growth in 2023. Together with the fact that these products are considered a basic necessity by most consumers, it continued to benefit…

"Macrobioticas" or health food stores, can be found nationwide, and in some parts of the country, their presence is even more visible than that of pharmacies. Traditional healers, known as curanderos or yerberos, are often consulted for advice and…

While there was still economic uncertainty, inflationary pressure eased significantly in 2023, even falling into deflation territory for part of the year. With the improved economic situation, home care registered healthy current value and modest…

There were significant price rises for home-insecticides in 2023, and in particular for spray/aerosols, as supply chain disruptions still lingered and this resulted in high current and constant value growth. However, despite significant price…

Inflation has taken its toll on hot drinks in Costa Rica, striking the coffee category especially hard in 2022. Conditions were exacerbated by the swift and unexpected appreciation of the colon vis-à-vis the dollar, which created a set of challenging…