DECEMBER 2013
Year-on-Year and Month-on-Month Growth Rates
of General Retail Price Index: December and November 2013
| All Items | December 2013 | November 2013 | Year-to-date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year-on-Year | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.7 |
| Month-on-Month | 0.1 | -0.1 |
Year-on-Year
The annual hike in the General Retail Price Index (GRPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) gained 2.3 percent in December, the same rate posted last month. This was effected by the mixed movements of the annual growths among the commodity groups. A higher annual gain was recorded in beverages and tobacco index at 15.0 percent in December from 14.8 in November; crude materials, inedible except fuels index, 2.1 percent from 0.7 percent; and mineral fuels, lubricants and related compounds index, 4.9 percent from 1.3 percent. On the contrary, the annual increase in the heavily-weighted food index slowed down to 2.2 percent from 2.3 percent; manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials index, 1.2 percent from 1.3 percent and machinery and transport equipment index, 1.1 percent from 1.4 percent. The indices of chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats and miscellaneous manufactured articles retained their previous month’s rates of 1.3 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
The 2013 annual average growth of the GRPI for all items index in NCR climbed 2.7 percent from 2.1 percent in 2012. A faster annual average rate was noted in food index at 1.5 percent in 2013 from 1.2 percent in 2012; beverages and tobacco index, 17.8 percent from 4.6 percent; crude materials, inedible except fuels index, 6.2 percent from 3.2 percent; and miscellaneous manufactured articles index, 2.9 percent from 2.5 percent. Meanwhile, the annual average hike in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials index eased to 0.6 percent from 0.9 percent; chemicals including animal and vegetable oils and fats index, 1.8 percent from 2.4 percent; manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials index, 1.7 percent from 2.4 percent; and machinery and transport equipment index, 2.3 percent from 2.7 percent.
By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month
On a monthly basis, the GRPI for all items in NCR inched up 0.1 percent in December from a 0.1 percent decline in November.
The index of beverages and tobacco went up 0.3 percent. This resulted from the increments in the prices of liquors, wines and softdrinks.
Price mark-ups in gasoline, LPG and kerosene raised the index for mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials index by 3.2 percent from -0.2 percent.
The manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials index rose 0.1 percent as prices of corrugated GI sheets, steel bars, common wire nails, selected paper products and sewing thread were pegged higher during the month.
A 0.1 percent uptick was seen in the miscellaneous manufactured articles index in December from zero growth last month due to price add-ons in selected ready-made clothing and undergarments.
A negative rate of 0.2 percent was still posted in the heavily-weighted food index. This was attributed to the downward trend in the prices of selected vegetables, fruits and meat. In addition, poultry feeds were also priced lower during the month.
Price decline in sand resulted to a 0.1 percent reduction in the index for crude materials, inedible except fuels.
The upward price adjustment in tinting color for paints was tempered by the decreases in the prices of paints. Hence, the index of chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats moved up at a slower rate of 0.1 percent from 0.2 percent.
No movement was seen in the machinery and transport equipment index as it registered a zero growth in December from 0.1 percent drop last month.
