The academic Euclides Méndez, author of the research, explained that the country does not have official data on the cost of living, but uses a methodology of the International Labor Organization which consists of multiplying by three the cost of the basic family basket.

In declarations to the newspaper La Estrella de Panamá, the expert added data from the Authority for Consumer Protection and Defense of Competition which show that, as for October 2024, the highest cost of the basket was 354.67 dollars.

Méndez commented that, between August 2019 and October 2024, the cost of the food basket increased by 46 dollars and the cost of living increased by 139 dollars, while the average salary only grew by 12 dollars in that period.

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