SANTO DOMINGO. – The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) reports that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) experienced a monthly variation of 0.08% in May 2025, resulting in an annual inflation rate of 3.84 % measured from May 2024 to May 2025. This rate has remained within the target range of 4.0% ± 1.0% established by the institution for the last 25 months, that is, since May 2023.
The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) highlights in its report that this level of year-on-year inflation is among the lowest in non-dollarized economies in Latin America.
The monetary authority explains that core monthly inflation was 0.29% in May 2025. Thus, core year-on-year inflation stood at 4.22% , remaining within the target range set by the Central Bank. This indicator provides clearer signals for conducting monetary policy because it excludes certain items that do not typically reflect 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.
Variation by Group:
The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) explains in its monthly report that the comparative analysis of May with April 2025 revealed that the 0.08% inflation rate continues to be influenced by price reductions observed for the second consecutive month in the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages group, which registered variations of -0.17% in April and -0.16% in May. Likewise, the Recreation and Culture category contributed to this result with a decrease of 1.25%. Conversely, increases were observed in the following groups: Miscellaneous Goods and Services (0.45%), Restaurants and Hotels (0.44%), Health (0.54%), Housing (0.15%), Transportation (0.10%), and Education (0.58%).
The report highlights that the -0.16% variation rate observed in Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, the group with the greatest weight in the family basket, is due to price reductions in some items with a high relative share, such as green and ripe plantains, potatoes, fresh chicken, among others, thus contributing to lower inflation in May compared to April 2025. As for the CPI of the Recreation and Culture group, it registered a variation of -1.25% due to price decreases in tourist package services.
Meanwhile, the Miscellaneous Goods and Services group showed an inflation rate of 0.45% as a result of price increases in some services and personal care items. The Restaurants and Hotels sector, on the other hand, presented a variation rate of 0.44%, explained by the increase in prices for food prepared outside the home.
The Health group showed an inflation rate of 0.54% as a result of price increases in pharmaceutical products, while the Housing group showed a rate of 0.15% derived from increases in rental services and common housing expenses.
The 0.10% inflation rate in the Transportation group reflects the price increases in passenger road transport services and vehicle repair services. Meanwhile, the 0.58% inflation rate observed in the Education sector is due to increases in university tuition fees.
Inflation of tradable and non-tradable goods:
The governing body explains that the CPI for tradable goods experienced a variation of -0.16% in May 2025, mainly due to price reductions in tour packages and automobiles, as well as in some food items. Regarding the monthly variation of the index for non-tradable goods and services, it stood at 0.33%.
Inflation by Geographic Area:
The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) explains that inflation by geographic region in May, compared to April 2025, shows that the price index for the Ozama region, which includes the National District and Santo Domingo province, experienced a variation of 0.07%, the North or Cibao region 0.05%, the East region 0.27%, and the South region 0.05%. The most pronounced variation observed in the East region is mainly attributed to the Transportation group, driven by increases in the prices of passenger road transport services. To a lesser extent, increases in the prices of food prepared outside the home also contributed.
Inflation by Quintiles:
The monetary authority concludes that the price indices by socioeconomic strata showed inflation rates of 0.15% in the first quintile, 0.14% in the second quintile, and 0.12% in the third quintile. The highest income quintiles, the fourth and fifth, showed variations of 0.03% and 0.08%, respectively. The lower rate recorded in the fourth quintile is mainly explained by the decrease in prices for automobiles and tour packages. In contrast, the higher variations observed in the lowest income quintiles (first, second, and third) are due to the combined effects of increases in the Miscellaneous Goods and Services, Restaurants and Hotels, Health, and Transportation groups.
