The high cost of food affects both locals and tourists in Costa Rica. Other factors, such as fuel costs and taxes, also contribute to the expensive nature of food in Costa Rica. Taxes on imported products contribute to rising prices. For example, Costa Rica has the third most expensive rice in the world. In fact, agricultural protectionism raises food prices.
These high tariffs (tariffs) and agricultural protectionism cause high food prices in Costa Rica. The cost of food and groceries is significantly lower in Costa Rica than in the United States, as long as you buy local products. Imported products, such as meat and wine, can be quite expensive. Grocery prices are, on average, 28.5 percent lower in Costa Rica. The story is pretty much the same when you want to eat out.
Restaurant prices are 38.2 percent lower. At that time, they lived in the expensive area of Los Angeles and commented on how reasonable the prices of restaurants in the marina were. Looking back, the 3 months I spent in Samara and the way my living situation evolved almost act as a direct analogy for someone moving through the different layers of the Costa Rican economy. The cost of living in Costa Rica seems prohibitive for many people, in particular for North American expatriates who have a fixed income and for tourists with modest means.
As a permanent resident in Costa Rica, you benefit from a relatively low income tax rate, on a scale of 0 percent (exemption) to 25 percent. Citizens and business owners often lament the high cost of energy, but since there is only one energy supplier, everyone is left with these high costs, and ICE has no pressure or incentive to find more efficient ways to deliver its services or make its prices more affordable. So I highlight this to say that being a tourist from a Spanish-speaking country can generate a very different financial experience in Costa Rica than being from a country that doesn't speak Spanish. There are some exceptions to this rule, of course, such as the high price of luxury items and imported gasoline, but in general, the cost of living is low.
The impact of all these taxes is that they affect businesses and consumers, often resulting in higher prices, more fees, and more bureaucratic processes (which slow things down and increase costs) to collect these taxes and fees. When, in reality, prices are set for them, they are sometimes set at the level of what they would be in the US. In the United States, or, sometimes, the price is vastly disproportionate to the value of the product or service. In Costa Rica, approximately 1.2 million people, more than 20% of the population, live below the poverty line. This hijacks rental prices, depriving locals of certain neighborhoods and increasing the costs of restaurants, cafes, or stores in these neighborhoods, to the point that locals can't even be customers there.
Costa Rica receives just over 1 million visitors each year, which, for a country that has only 5.2 million people, constitutes a very large demographic group and a lot of foot traffic. Hello, in this subreddit you can talk to a mix of Costa Ricans, foreign visitors and expatriates to enjoy a more varied experience and set of answers. The prices are so expensive that there are several ways that people have found to try to offset some of the costs. When people ask me why I came to Costa Rica, I answer: “I can explain to them why I didn't come here, I didn't come here to make myself rich.
