Overview
- ANPEC’s year-end survey of roughly 3,000 small merchants reports that 92.48% felt a stronger inflation hit in 2025, and 45.48% say consumption has fallen.
- Despite official inflation moderating this year, 91.58% saw higher shelf prices, 92.7% faced supplier hikes, and 88.31% raised their own prices.
- Shoppers are scaling back: 64.78% of merchants say purchasing is day-to-day, and 70.35% report customers choose primarily on price.
- Security risks worsened, with petty theft up 30.53%, armed robberies up 8.36%, and reported extortion increasing 3.54%.
- To avoid losing customers, 82.36% cut profit margins, 37% view insecurity as their biggest business problem, and ANPEC warns theft and extortion often intensify in December.