The year 2025 is coming to an end and 2026 is opening with a blow of rising prices everywhere! Every day prices keep going up. The year 2025 will be remembered as the year in which the people’s wallets were punished by high prices across the board. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, food prices have risen so much that neither eating at home nor eating out is cheaper anymore.
There is no longer any way to escape the surge in prices and the people have no way out. As if that were not enough, 2026 begins with an increase in the price of bread. A kipashi cost 5 florins in 2025, and on the first day of January 2026 it will cost 5.75 florins — an increase of 15%!
In November 2025, prices for food & catering services increased by 0.4 percent compared to October 2025. This means the upward trend continues, following an increase of 0.1 percent in the previous month. This is reported by CBS. Both the cost of food at home and food consumed outside the home increased, meaning consumers have almost no option to avoid rising prices. Prices for food at home also increased by 0.4 percent, according to parliamentarian Dangui Oduber.
In this category, nine of the eleven product groups increased in price. The strongest increase was recorded in vegetables, which became 2.2 percent more expensive in just one month. Milk and eggs also rose sharply by 1.0 percent, while fruit (0.7 percent), non-alcoholic beverages (0.5 percent), and sugar and sweets (0.5 percent) also became more expensive. The only clear price drop was observed in potatoes and other tubers, which fell by 1.2 percent. Eating outside the home, including restaurants and take-away food, also became more expensive. This category showed a price increase of 0.3 percent in November 2025.
This means that both households that cook at home and people who depend on food outside the home are facing higher costs. Minister Wever has also given the people a gas price increase, which to this day has not been reversed for the population.
People enter supermarkets with fear because the cost of living is so high that 100 florins feels like 10 florins. The people were promised by the AVP–Futuro government that there would be relief, that the cost of living would go down and that refrigerators would be full again. Today, the reality is different. Both the Central Bank and the Central Bureau of Statistics have confirmed that food prices have experienced explosive increases and that people’s wallets are emptier than ever.
Where can the people escape the price shock? Water prices have not gone down, electricity prices have not gone down! Gasoline prices were increased as a Christmas “gift” from Geoffrey Wever, gas prices went up, and food and drink prices have seen explosive increases!
The promised relief is NOT being felt; on the contrary, the people feel betrayed and deceived. Refrigerators are emptier than ever, the people have been punished with a gas price increase, and today the people’s purchasing power has declined significantly. Nothing is being done to improve purchasing power for those earning minimum wage and those in the middle class.
The minimum cost of living increased again during 2025, making it even harder for families in Aruba to survive, while the government stands by with its arms crossed. We see no actions to reduce the cost of living or improve the purchasing power of those who feel it most in their wallets. This year must bring change so that those most affected can feel relief. In every supermarket the people enter, they see the face of Geoffrey Wever on the shelves and are afraid to shop! In a country where the government has more than 500 million florins in surplus, it is unacceptable that so many people are suffering! Prosperity has not been shared as promised!