Latin American consumers surprised markets in 2025 with resilience, digital adoption, and continued consumption despite economic headwinds. But beneath that confidence sits a growing tension: trust is thinning, patience is shorter, and expectations of brands are rising fast. 

Understanding what carried consumption in 2025, and what may fracture it in 2026, requires looking beyond optimism and into the structural pressures shaping everyday decisions.

LatAm Intersect explores these dynamics in depth in its latest e-book. Download it here.

2025 was better than expected. That doesn’t mean it was calm.

For brands operating in Latin America, 2025 felt like a reprieve.

After years of inflation, political noise, and post-pandemic disruption, consumers kept spending. Digital finance adoption deepened. E-commerce growth remained among the fastest globally. Local brands gained relevance. In many markets, consumption held up better than macro forecasts suggested.

That resilience, however, shouldn’t be confused with comfort.

What we observed across the region in 2025 was not blind optimism, but adaptive behavior. Latin Americans adjusted. They re-prioritized. They experimented carefully. And they demanded more relevance from the companies asking for their attention and money.

This matters because the same forces that sustained consumption in 2025 are already reshaping attitudes toward 2026.

Confidence remains high. Trust does not.

The 2025 LatAm consumer: pragmatic, proud, and selectively optimistic

After reviewing recent consumer studies and working closely with companies across the region, a clear composite profile emerges.

The Latin American consumer in 2025 is navigating rising costs, abrupt shifts in work and leisure, and rapid technological change. But they are doing so with pragmatism rather than panic. They balance caution with experimentation. They reward brands that fit real daily pressures. And when conditions change, they adapt quickly.

From this profile, we spotted traits that defined consumption behavior in 2025. Each one also hints at how 2026 may evolve.

Trait #1: Sustainability stopped being abstract

In 2025, environmental concern in Latin America became tangible.

Floods, droughts, hurricanes, and forest fires were not distant headlines. They were local disruptions. That proximity changed how sustainability is perceived, less as a moral posture, more as a lived reality.

The data reflects this shift clearly:

• 33% of Brazilians reported concern about climate change in 2025, nearly double the level in 2022
• 28% of Latin Americans now consider themselves highly committed to sustainability
• 36% of consumers say brands, not governments, hold the greatest responsibility for combating climate change

This is not passive concern. It is expectation.

Consumers increasingly look for sustainable packaging, reduced plastic use, and visible environmental accountability. Importantly, this pressure is uneven but persistent across markets. Brazilians focus on packaging. Mexicans emphasize environmental impact tied to travel and production. Chile’s regulatory environment reinforces corporate responsibility. The direction is consistent even if the expression varies.

What this tells us about 2026:
Sustainability will no longer function as a reputational bonus. It will operate as a credibility filter. Brands that over-promise or hide behind vague ESG language will face sharper skepticism, not applause.

Trait #2: “Buy local” became both emotional and economic

National and local pride surged in 2025, but not for sentimental reasons alone.

Tariffs, taxes, and trade friction pushed up the cost of imported goods across Latin America. As prices rose, consumers recalibrated. Local and regional products became more attractive — sometimes out of pride, often out of necessity.

The numbers are telling:

• 60% of Brazilians, 59% of Colombians, 54% of Mexicans, and 44% of Chileans intend to buy more products from their own countries
• Imported categories such as apparel, appliances, autos, and packaged goods saw price pressure tied directly to trade policy shifts

This created a feedback loop: higher import costs strengthened local consumption, which in turn reinforced national manufacturing narratives and regional trade ambitions.

What this tells us about 2026:
Local relevance will increasingly mean economic empathy. Brands perceived as disconnected from price pressure, sourcing realities, or regional trade dynamics will struggle to justify their premiums.

Trait #3: Responsibility shifted from institutions to brands

One of the most consequential shifts of 2025 was psychological.

Across Latin America, consumers increasingly assigned responsibility for environmental and social outcomes to companies rather than governments. Regionally, 36% place the burden of climate action primarily on brands, a figure even higher in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico.

This reframes the brand-consumer relationship.

Consumers are no longer waiting for policy alignment before adjusting expectations. They are evaluating companies directly, based on actions they can see: packaging choices, sourcing transparency, waste reduction, and community impact.

What this tells us about 2026:
Corporate neutrality will become harder to sustain. Silence will be interpreted as avoidance. Action will be expected even in politically fragmented environments.

Trait #4: Confidence in adaptation, caution toward promises

Perhaps the defining paradox of 2025 is this: Latin Americans feel capable, but unconvinced.

They trust their ability to adapt. They trust digital tools. They trust local ingenuity. But they are increasingly skeptical of institutions, politics, and brand rhetoric.

This is where many strategies quietly fail.

Messages built on optimism alone miss the underlying tension. Consumers are not pessimistic, they are selective. They reward brands that acknowledge friction, constraints, and trade-offs instead of pretending they don’t exist.

The mistake we see most often

Many brands read 2025’s resilience as permission to relax.

They interpret steady consumption as proof that messaging, pricing, and positioning are “working.” In reality, what worked in 2025 was consumer adaptability, not brand brilliance.

The risk for 2026 is assuming patience where there is only pragmatism.

A framework for reading 2026: The Confidence-Trust Gap

To understand where consumption is heading, we use a simple lens:

Confidence-Trust Gap

• Confidence: Consumers believe they can navigate uncertainty
• Trust: Consumers question whether brands and institutions deserve belief

In 2026, growth will favor brands that help close this gap, not through louder messaging, but through clearer relevance, local grounding, and visible trade-offs.

What to expect from the LatAm consumer in 2026

Based on 2025 patterns, four shifts are likely to define the coming year:

• From sustainability claims to sustainability proof
• From global aspiration to regional pragmatism
• From emotional branding to functional credibility
• From patience to conditional loyalty
• This does not signal contraction. It signals selectivity.

Want the full picture?

This article is part of a broader analysis mapping how four defining traits of LatAm consumption in 2025 are likely to evolve into four new behaviors in 2026.

Download the full report here to explore country-level insights, sector implications, and strategic recommendations.