The Costa Rica Chamber of Commerce provided information regarding the projections for this 2018 in a press conference this week, the growth in the commerce sector is expected to decline, going from 3.3% this year to 2.8% in 2018.

The generation of new formal jobs will also suffer a decline. These conditions will definitely have an influence over the economic conditions of the country, causing a deceleration of the consumption of goods and services.

The Consumer Confidence Index (an indicator designed to measure consumer confidence, which is defined as the degree of optimism on the state of the economy that consumers are expressing through their activities of savings and spending), measured by the University of Costa Rica, showed that the confidence of the Costa Rican consumers has lowered in the past six months and continues to deteriorate; contrary to the tendencies of past years, the fact that the aguinaldos are paid in December and the end of the year festivities are approaching, haven’t generated a recovery.

If additional taxes are approved the income of the families will be affected and therefore this will have repercussions in the commerce sector.

The Chamber of Commerce expects that events such as the Russia World Cup will increase the consumption of several goods.