Guadeloupe: the exorbitant cost of living

In Guadeloupe, buying a bottle of sunflower oil costs two euros: “It is enough that metropolitan people go shopping here when they come on vacation, they will see the difference” ; “It’s almost twice as expensive (…) we are more expensive than Cannes, we don’t touch the salary you get there”, are indignant Guadeloupean consumers.

The exorbitant prices do not only concern food products, but also hygiene products which can be more than 75% more expensive. For a consumer association, the problem comes first from the lack of competition: “There is so-called competition, but in reality the prices remain frozen because the purchasing centers undoubtedly belong to the same group”, says the secretary general ofADEIC Guadeloupe. Most products are imported, which involves costs to which is added a tax pointed out in 2020 by the Court of Auditors: the grant of sea.