• Year-on-Year

Measured from a year ago, the national inflation rate increased to 7.9 percent in April from 7.3 percent last month. The index was estimated at 254.7 in April from 253.0 in March. The average inflation during the first four months of the year was 7.3 percent.

• Month-on Month

On a month-on-month basis, prices slightly moved up by 0.7 percent in April from 0.6 percent in March.

• By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year
• Among the commodity groups, fuel, light and water (FLW) and services recorded lower rates in April at 7.7 percent and 15.9 percent compared to their corresponding rates of 8.4 percent and 16.0 percent in March. Other groups registered higher inflation rates in April. The rates for food, beverages and tobacco (FBT) increased to 5.4 percent from 4.5 percent; housing and repairs (H&R), 10.8 percent from 10.3 percent; miscellaneous items, 6.7 percent from 6.1 percent; and clothing, 5.5 percent from 5.3 percent.
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  • The inflation rate for food alone went up to 5.5 percent in April from 4.5 percent in March. Higher rates were recorded in the prices of fruits and vegetables, 9.2 percent from 2.2 percent; fish, 8.1 percent from 7.1 percent; cereal preparations, 8.9 percent from 8.2 percent; dairy products, 12.2 percent from 11.7 percent; meat, 4.5 percent from 4.1 percent; miscellaneous foods, 5.7 percent from 5.4 percent; and meals eaten outside, 4.4 percent from 4.2 percent.
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  • However, lower rates were registered in the prices of rice, 1.6 percent from 2.5 percent; corn, 0.2 percent from 0.4 percent; and eggs, 4.9 percent from 5.5 percent.
• The same trend was observed in Metro Manila (MM). The rates for FLW and services were correspondingly lower by 1.3 percentage points and 0.4 percentage point. The rates for FBT were higher by 2.2 percentage points; H&R, 1.0 percentage point; miscellaneous items, 0.4 percentage point; and clothing, 0.2 percentage point.
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  • The inflation for food alone in MM rose to 4.5 percent from 2.3 percent in March. Year-on-year rates were higher in the prices of cereal preparations, 5.8 percent from 5.5 percent; fish, 9.4 percent from 6.0 percent; fruits and vegetables, 5.5 percent from -8.1 percent; and meat, 5.3 percent from 3.7 percent.
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  • However, lower rates were posted in the prices of corn, 6.4 percent from 8.4 percent; dairy products, 11.7 percent from 11.8 percent; and eggs, 3.0 percent from 5.3 percent. On the other hand, the rate for rice went down to -0.1 percent from 0.2 percent last month while that for miscellaneous foods remained at 2.7 percent.
• For areas outside Metro Manila (AOMM), all the commodity groups recorded higher inflation rates except for FLW which registered a lower rate by 0.5 percentage point. The rates for FBT increased by 0.6 percentage point; services and H&R, 0.1 percentage point; and miscellaneous items, 0.6 percentage point; and clothing, 0.2 percentage point.
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  • The inflation rate for food alone went up to 5.7 percent from 5.1 percent in March. Prices of cereal preparations rose by 0.9 percentage point; dairy products, 0.8 percentage point; fish, 0.6 percentage point; fruits and vegetables, 5.4 percentage points; miscellaneous foods and meals eaten outside, 0.4 percentage point.
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  • However, the inflation rate for rice at 1.9 percent was slower than the 2.8 percent last month. Five regions recorded slowdowns in inflation rates from their corresponding levels in March with the biggest decrease of 2.5 percentage points in CAR and Western Visayas. Likewise, prices of corn, eggs and meat were lower by 0.1 percentage point.
• By Region, Year-on-Year
• The inflation rate for Metro Manila increased to 8.8 percent in April from 7.6 percent last month.
• AOMM posted a rate of 7.5 percent from 7.2 percent last month. The biggest increments were noted in Eastern Visayas and Northern Mindanao at 1.1 percentage point followed by Central Luzon at 0.9 percentage point and Central Mindanao at 0.8 percentage point. ARMM recorded the highest inflation rate at 13.3 percent while Central Visayas registered the lowest rate at 6.0 percent.
• By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month
• Except for FBT and FLW whose corresponding inflation rates increased to 0.9 percent from 0.5 percent and 0.1 percent from -0.1 percent in March, all other commodity groups recorded lower month-on-month inflation rates. H&R slowed down to 0.7 percent from 1.1 percent; miscellaneous items, 0.6 percent from 1.1 percent; services, 0.2 percent from 0.7 percent; and clothing, 0.2 percent from 0.5 percent
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  • The price of rice remained stable as it registered zero growth in April. Eight regions posted rate increases ranging from 0.1 percent in Bicol region and ARMM to 3.6 percent in Eastern Visayas. However, six regions recorded declines with the lowest rate posted in Western Visayas at -2.1 percent.
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  • The national and AOMM indices for corn continued to increase at 1.4 percent this month from 0.5 percent in March. However, prices of corn in Metro Manila declined by -0.8 percent.
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  • Prices of cereal preparations also increased but at slower rates as the national level and MM posted increments of 0.6 percent and 0.3 percent in April compared to 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent respectively last month. Prices of cereal preparations in AOMM remained at 0.7 percent.
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  • The dairy products index was on the uptrend but at a slower rate compared in March. The national index went up by 0.6 percent; MM, 0.2 percent; and AOMM, 0.7 percent as prices of milk went up in most of the regions.
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  • Prices of eggs in the Philippines and AOMM slowed down to 0.2 percent and in MM to 0.1 percent from 0.4 percent the previous month.
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  • Fish prices went up by 1.5 percent in the Philippines, 1.9 percent in Metro Manila, and 1.4 percent in AOMM.
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  • The fruits and vegetables index was up by 3.3 percent in the Philippines and 2.6 percent in AOMM brought about by the low volume of deliveries in the markets. Similarly, MM posted an increase of 6.7 percent.
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  • Meat prices increased by 0.7 percent in the national level and 1.9 percent in MM. The decline in the supply of chicken reaching wholesale markets caused by the heat and higher cost of feeds affected prices. Prices of meat in AOMM slightly slowed down to 0.2 percent from 0.3 percent last month.
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  • The miscellaneous foods index increased by 0.6 percent in the Philippines as prices of calamansi, sugar, vinegar, coconut, coffee, and tea increased in MM and in many regions in AOMM.
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  • Meals eaten outside slowed down to 0.4 percent in the Philippines and 0.7 percent in AOMM.
• The H&R index posted a 0.7 percent national increment due to increases in rentals and prices of construction materials like cement, plywood, and common wire nails.
• The miscellaneous items index recorded a 0.6 percent increment brought about by the increase in the prices of laundry and bath soap, detergent, bleach, fluorescent tubes, floor wax, toothpaste, broom, and cleanser.
• Services registered an increment of 0.3 percent in AOMM while it declined by -0.2 percent in MM resulting to a 0.2 percent increase in the Philippines due to the increase in the prices of medicines, medical and dental charges, recreational admission fees and higher wages for domestic helper.
• The clothing index increased by 0.2 percent in the Philippines resulting from 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent movements in Metro Manila and AOMM, respectively. This was due to the price increases in footwear and ready-made apparel along with the higher sewing charges.
• The FLW index rose by 0.1 percent in the national level and by 0.6 percent in MM as purchased power adjustment (PPA) for electricity went up.
• By Region, Month-on-Month
• Prices in Metro Manila were up by 1.0 percent from 0.4 percent last month. Higher rates were recorded in FBT, 0.9 percentage point; H&R, 0.9 percentage point; FLW, 2.2 percentage points; and clothing, 0.2 percentage point. On the other hand, services declined by 0.9 percentage point while miscellaneous items slowed down by 0.7 percentage point.
• In AOMM, prices increased by 0.6 percent in April which was slightly lower than the 0.7 percent posted last month. Except for FBT whose month-on-month rate went up by 0.3 percentage point and FLW with zero growth, all the other commodity groups slowed down from their previous month's rates, i.e. services and clothing, by 0.4 percentage point; miscellaneous items, 0.6 percentage point; and H&R, 1.6 percentage points. Slowdowns were recorded in the monthly inflation of nine regions. The highest rate was registered in Eastern Visayas at 1.7 percent while the lowest in Western Visayas at 0.1 percent.¹

¹ This report does not include mid-month price reports of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Source: National Statistics Office
Philippines