SANTO DOMINGO. -The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) reported that the year-on-year inflation rate measured from September 2024 to September 2025 was 3.76%, remaining within the Monetary Program's target range of 4.0% ± 1.0% for 29 months, that is, since May 2023, and is among the lowest in the non-dollarized economies of Latin America.
The agency highlights that core inflation year-on-year stood at 4.35% in September, remaining within the target set by the Central Bank. "This indicator allows for clearer signals to be drawn for the conduct of monetary policy, since it excludes some items that do not normally respond to liquidity conditions in the economy, such as food with highly volatile prices, fuels, and services with regulated prices like electricity and transportation, as well as alcoholic beverages and tobacco," it notes.
Variation by Groups:
Analyzing the results of the monthly variation in the overall CPI in September 2025, it is observed that the groups with the greatest impact on inflation were Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Education, Restaurants and Hotels, Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services. Conversely, the Transportation, Recreation and Culture, and Communications groups registered reductions in their price levels, contributing to a smaller overall CPI variation.
The 0.72% increase observed in the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages category is primarily explained by price increases in items such as plantains and green bananas, cassava, cod, limes, and ripe plantains, among others. Decreases in the prices of some products, such as fresh chicken, avocados, oranges, and chili peppers, partially mitigated the group's inflation.
The CPI for the Education group showed a variation of 2.29%, driven by increases in private school tuition fees for preschool, primary, and secondary education, as part of the seasonal dynamics associated with the school enrollment process. Increases were also observed in university education services.
Regarding the Restaurants and Hotels group, it revealed a variation rate of 0.61% as a result of increases in the prices of meals prepared outside the home, primarily in daily specials, grocery services with side dishes, chicken service, and others. It is important to note that the behavior observed in the food service price index reflects the increased costs of basic inputs used in food preparation, which directly impact the consumer price of these services.
The Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco group showed a variation of 1.59%, largely driven by the increase in beer prices. Meanwhile, the Miscellaneous Goods and Services group showed inflation of 0.18%, explained by increases in the prices of personal care services and products.
In contrast, the Transportation group index showed a monthly variation of -0.13%, attributed to declines in airfares, the magnitude of which was mitigated by price increases in vehicle repair services, public transportation, and motorcycle taxi fares. Similarly, the Recreation and Culture group registered a variation of -0.63%, resulting from price decreases in tour package services. Meanwhile, the Communications sector reflected a variation of -0.44% due to reductions in the prices of internet, cell phone, and bundled telecommunications services.
Inflation of tradable and non-tradable goods:
The CPI for tradable goods increased by 0.32% in September 2025, driven mainly by price increases in some food items and beer. Regarding the index for non-tradable goods and services, inflation stood at 0.36%.
Inflation by Region:
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) by geographic region for September, compared to August, shows that the Ozama region, which includes the National District and Santo Domingo province, experienced a variation of 0.29%; the North or Cibao region, 0.44%; the East region, 0.32%; and the South region, 0.26%. The most pronounced variation rate observed in the North region is due to a greater contribution from items with a high weighting in its basket, such as green plantains and cassava, in addition to a greater effect of the price increase seen in beer. Meanwhile, the inflation observed in the South region is explained by a lower contribution from the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages group, mainly due to reductions in the prices of fresh chicken, the food item with the largest relative share in its basket, as well as the lower impact of the Restaurants and Hotels group compared to the rest of the country.
Inflation by Quintiles
Finally, the results of the price indices by socioeconomic strata showed inflation rates of 0.35% for quintile 1, 0.37% for quintile 2, and 0.40% for quintile 3. Meanwhile, quintiles 4 and 5 showed variations of 0.40% and 0.22%, respectively. The lower inflation rate recorded in quintile 5 is largely due to the lower weighting of food in the consumption basket of higher-income households, along with the decreases observed in airfares and package tour services.
