Inflation in Bolivia reaches its highest level in 39 years | Inflación en Bolivia llega a su nivel más alto en 39 años

By El Diario:

Analyst Fernando Romero warns

  • Despite official INE reports indicating a slowdown, Romero’s economic analysis reveals that September 2025 price increases are the highest in nearly four decades, due to
    • currency instability,
    • fuel shortages, and
    • lack of structural measures.
The population is finding ways to purchase food despite soaring prices.

Cumulative inflation in Bolivia reached 18.33% by September 2025, the highest in 39 years, surpassing figures recorded between 1987 and 2024. It also represents the highest level of accumulated inflation during the socialist period in the country, from 2006 to date, said economic analyst Fernando Romero.

Romero’s analysis contradicts the National Institute of Statistics (INE), which reported that as of September 2025, monthly inflation was only 0.20%, less than a quarter of that recorded in August, with cumulative inflation of 18.33%, just 0.24 percentage points higher than the previous month.

The economist stressed that although INE’s methodology for measuring the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is not in question, official statistics do not fully reflect the reality faced by many families and businesses, where the impact of inflation is felt much more strongly.

Among the factors keeping inflation high and sustained are the shortage of U.S. dollars, lack of fuels, excess bolivianos in circulation, speculation, low national production, reverse smuggling, and inflationary expectations. No recent structural measures have been applied to moderate this trend.

Romero emphasized that one of the central challenges of the new government will be to control inflation to avoid further devaluation of the boliviano and the consequent loss of purchasing power.

To this end, he recommended implementing sustainable monetary and exchange measures, such as reducing the money supply, balancing exchange rates with the dollar, and ensuring timely supplies of diesel and gasoline to the Bolivian economy, in order to stabilize prices and restore economic confidence.

These official data and analysis coincide with the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) forecast, which projects inflation of around 15.8% for the full year 2025 in Bolivia, a figure that reflects the fastest inflationary acceleration in decades, driven by deep structural factors and recent social and economic crises that have affected supply and costs in the country.

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