Regarding what is expected economically for 2021, in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama and Honduras there is more optimism among consumers, while in Guatemala and Costa Rica the percentage of people who believe that the situation will improve this year is lower.
According to the survey conducted by Kantar to measure the perception of households in Central America, at regional level 12% of consumers consulted believe that the economic situation in their country will improve during 2021, 23% expect it to be the same and 65% predict that it will be worse.
Although the restrictions imposed by the pandemic have been relaxed, consumers continue to show signs of mistrust in the current situation, behavior that could put pressure downward on spending on products and services considered to be discretionary.
In 2020, when the effects of the pandemic that caused the spread of covid-19 began to become evident, it was anticipated that consumer habits would change, since in a complicated economic scenario full of uncertainty, people would be more careful when spending.
Between February and August of this year, the proportion of consumers in Costa Rica who expressed pessimism regarding the country's economic future increased from 33% to 47%, a rise that can be explained by the crisis resulting from the outbreak of covid-19.
According to the Consumer Confidence Survey conducted during August 2020 by the School of Statistics of the University of Costa Rica, people in the country expect increases in the cost of their loans in the next 12 months.
Between February and May of this year the Consumer Confidence Index registered a 40% drop, which was caused by the health and economic crisis resulting from the covid-19 outbreak.
According to the Consumer Confidence survey conducted by the University of Costa Rica, between August and November 2019 the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) rose from 28.5 to 32.3, however, by May of this year it had fallen to 19.7.
Although the Consumer Confidence Index reports increases in the last two quarters, the perception of the country's economy continues to be pessimistic.
According to the Consumer Confidence survey, conducted by the University of Costa Rica, between August and November 2019 the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) rose from 28.5 to 32.3, and by February this year it had risen to 37.
Although between August and November 2019 the confidence index grew 13% in Costa Rica, consumers still have a significant degree of uncertainty.
El resultado muestra que, aunque la confianza se incrementó significativamente en los últimos tres meses, lo hizo en una magnitud moderada. Esto significa que, pese al aumento de la confianza, los consumidores todavía conservan un grado de incertidumbre importante.
Business confidence in Costa Rica fell in the third quarter to levels reported in 2009, a year marked by the global financial crisis, and in consumer’s pessimism has also rebounded, because no effective and short-term measures are perceived that tend to reactivate the national economy.
Businessmen are not very optimistic about the development of their businesses in the coming months, as comparing today's Business Confidence Index (IEC) (5.3) with that of a year ago (6.2) shows a significant decline. In addition, this indicator accumulates 10 quarters of gradual slowdown, reported the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of Private Business Sector (UCCAEP).
Between February and August of this year, the Consumer Confidence Index decreased six points, as a result of people not perceiving effective and short-term measures that tend to revive the national economy.
The current level of confidence reflects consumers pessimistic about the economic situation, a condition that has been present for a year, according to the report prepared by the School of Statistics of the University of Costa Rica.
In Costa Rica, the Central Bank predicted that confidence would again prevail among businessmen and consumers once the tax reform was approved, but that has not been the case.
In December 2018, after a year of proceedings in Congress and after having been reviewed in the constitutional instance, was approved by the Assembly of the country the file that corresponded to the Law of Strengthening Public Finances.
Consistent with the pessimism with which the population of Costa Rica perceives the general state of the economy since August last year, between February and May this year the Consumer Confidence Index fell two points.
In May 2019, the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) fell almost two points from February. Currently, the ICC is 32.9 points (on a scale of zero to 100) and three months ago was 34.8 points, according to the report released by the School of Statistics of the University of Costa Rica.
The pessimism expressed by consumers in Costa Rica and the constant deterioration of business expectations in Guatemala reflect part of the complex challenges faced by Central American economies this year.
A report prepared by the School of Statistics of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) shows the negative trend that come showing the economic expectations, because between February 2018 and the same month of 2019, the Consumer Confidence Index (ICC) fell 15%.
The uncertainty about the future of the tax reform that is being discussed in the Assembly is the main reason behind the decline in consumer confidence in Costa Rica.
The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) calculated by the University of Costa Rica (UCR) shows a reduction of close to 10 points between the months of June and August.
Distrust by households about the economic future is slowing the growth of consumption.
The projections on consumption behavior made by the private sector for this year differ from government authorities.
A joint study by Unimer and El Financiero indicate that Costa Rican household consumption will grow 3.3% by the end of 2011, less than the 4.3% forecast by the Central Bank of Costa Rica.
The Consumer Confidence Index in Costa Rica remained unchanged from February to March.
Developed by the University of Costa Rica (UCR), the Consumer Confidence Index stood at 53.5 in May, down from 54.2 in February (the scale goes from 0 to 100, anything over 50 implies a favorable outlook).
“The index includes current conditions and future expectations, and these two variables haven’t shown significant changes.
The Business Confidence Index rose to 4.94 (in a scale of 1 to 10), a 35% increase when compared to the previous quarter.
It is still far from the 7.69 points recorded on the first quarter of 2008.
“This index seems to be in line with the Consumer Confidence Index, recently reported by the Chamber of Commerce. It was 95 in July 2009, 109 on November 2009, and is now at 131”.