Q COSTA RICA — After the regulatory authority approved a sharp fuel-price increase last Friday, many people are asking when the new prices will take effect. They become effective at midnight on the day they are published in the government’s official gazette, La Gaceta.
The higher prices are expected to reach the pumps on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, since the adjustment had not been published today and is expected to appear tomorrow.
Approved by the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (ARESEP) on October 29, the adjustment will raise costs for consumers and businesses:
- Regular gasoline will see the largest increase, rising ¢89 per liter, from ¢719 to ¢808,
- Super gasoline will go up ¢42, from ¢764 to ¢806 per liter,
- while diesel will rise ¢23, from ¢785 to ¢808.
The adjustment also raises the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), widely used for cooking, to ¢289 per liter. A 25-pound cylinder will cost ¢7,721.
Officials say the increases reflect the cost of fuel shipments reported by the state-owned Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo (RECOPE), which refines nothing, but rather imports finished fuel.
ARESEP has also pointed to pressure in international markets, including uncertainty over supply and higher transportation and refining costs.
Costa Rica reviews fuel prices monthly, so further changes may follow. Prices can rise or fall depending on international costs and exchange rates, ARESEP says.