The year 2024 closed with a controlled inflation in the Dominican Republic, falling within the target range established by the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) 4.0% ± 1.0.
However, the increases in basic products and essential services impacted the lowest-income sectors most significantly, highlighting the importance of monitoring these indicators to guarantee economic and social stability.
Quintiles
BCRD information reveals that, at the end of 2024, the costs of the family basket showed increases in all socioeconomic strata.
In the case of quintile 1the average cost went from 26,861.64 pesos in January to 27,724.42 pesos in December, an increase of 3.2% equivalent to 862.78 pesos.
He quintile 2 registered an increase of 2.9%, going from 34,995.74 pesos in January to 36,011.00 pesos in December, an absolute difference of 1,015.26 pesos.
For quintile 3the cost of the basket increased by 2.7%, going from 41,360.77 pesos in January to 42,464.89 pesos in December, an increase of 1,104.12 pesos.
In the case of quintile 4the family basket It rose from 47,875.62 pesos in January to 49,235.82 pesos in December, an increase of 2.8% or 1,360.20 pesos.
Finally, quintile 5 experienced an increase of 2,150.86 pesos, with the cost of the basket rising from 73,192.04 pesos in January to 75,342.89 pesos in December, representing an increase of 2.9%.
The cost of national family basket It also registered an increase of 2.9%, going from 44,927.30 pesos in January to 46,251.42 pesos in December 2024, a variation of 1,324.12 pesos.
Products and services with greater inflation
The BCRD reported last Tuesday that the consumer price index (CPI) presented an interannual variation of 3.35% in December 2024, lower than the rate of 3.57% observed in December 2023, being the lowest inflation annually in the last six years.
The analysis of the CPI by group highlights the products and services that presented the greatest variations in December 2024.
The institution points out that the food and non-alcoholic beverages group led the increases with a monthly increase of 1.53%, due to the increase in prices of basic products such as green bananas, chicken, chili peppers, onions, coffee, green bananas, eggs, potatoes and rice.
The groups follow: various goods and services with a variation of 1.14%, followed by transportation (0.29%); restaurants and hotels (0.53%), and health (0.33%). This last group had a variation of 0.33%, impacted by the increase in the prices of antihypertensive medications.
The BCRD, in a publication from May 2024, explains that the average current income of Dominican households, which includes remuneration from work, as well as income from property rentals, transfers, self-consumption or self-supply, among others, it reached 48,920.6 pesos at the end of 2023, exceeding the cost of the family basket of 44,513.3 pesos at that time. That is, according to the BCRD, that households had the resources to acquire the goods and services that make up their basket. As of December 2024, the cost of the national family basket was 46,251.42 pesos, a figure that is still below the average current income of Dominican households.
