May
21
Pucallpa cost of living(Update)…
Produce Market - Yarinacocha, Peru
I figured it was time to update this post: pucallpa-general-information.
For the latest exchange rates, always consult: Current Exchange rates
In August of last year I wrote about getting around Pucallpa and prices in general. Well… Food and transportation prices have risen by about 50% since that post. Most of this is due to the weather. Pucallpa and the entire Amazon region suffered the worst rainy season in history. The Amazon River went from its lowest recorded level in late 2010, to its highest level in history in the span of a little over 4 months.
About access to products… If you are planning on coming to Pucallpa on a long term basis, bring things from wherever you call home. There is little in the way of foreign food products here, other than alcohol and a few random imported items. The local supermarket Los Andes has started to sell a nice selection of bread products. Real whole wheat bread, tortillas. real yogurt, and a few other never before seen treats. They do charge a steep premium over the same items purchased in Lima, about 25%, but it is all about convenience.
- Taking a Motokar: The price has increased slightly, not as much as somethings. Minimum fare, 1.50 soles.
- Taking a Tico(shared taxi): The price has increased by 50%, from 1 sol to 1.50 each way. They are now only allowed to have 4 passengers in the car and fuel prices have increased by about 10% since last year, from 9.50 to 10.50 soles per gallon.
- Food prices: Most food prices have risen by about 30% this seems to be mostly related to the crop damage and lack of production during the rainy season. Prices of onions hit a peak of 3.00 soles a kilo up from 1.30 in December of 2010. Potatoes, about 2.00 a kilo, up from .80 a kilo. Rice and sugar have risen about 30% since the original post.
- Eating out: Portion have shrunk and prices have gone up, each by about 10%.
- Natural Gas & Fuel: Natural Gas used for cooking and vehicles, which is produced locally, up about 15%. A new law that keeps 50% of the production here in Pucallpa should lower prices. Fuel prices have gone up by about 10%, that is due to OPEC prices and the falling value of the US dollar.
- Clothing and medication have remained the same or gone down since the original post.
- Housing prices seems to be about the same as they have been the past few years.
