Inflation Rates, Philippines, All Items

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
(1994=100)
JANUARY 1999

l By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

è The rates for food, beverages and tobacco (FBT) increased to 13.2 percent in January 1999 from 11.2 percent in December 1998; clothing, 9.1 percent from 7.2 percent; housing and repairs (HR), 10.5 percent from 9.8 percent; and miscellaneous items, 9.3 percent from 8.9 percent. On the other hand, the rates for fuel, light and water (FLW) slowed down to 5.4 percent from 6.0 percent; and services, 10.5 percent from 11.6 percent.

> The inflation rate for food alone was 13.3 percent in January, slower than 11.5 percent recorded in December. Higher rates were noted in the prices of rice, 6.8 percent from 4.8 percent; eggs, 16.3 percent from 14.0 percent; fish, 12.4 percent from 7.6 percent; fruits and vegetables, 47.5 percent from 33.5 percent; and meat, 8.5 percent from 6.8 percent. However, lower rates were posted in the prices of corn, -5.5 percent from -4.2 percent; cereal preparations, 8.9 percent from 12.3 percent; dairy products, 11.5 percent from 12.2 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 10.8 percent from 14.6 percent.

è In Metro Manila (MM), the rate for FBT was higher by 2.7 percentage points and clothing, by 0.8 percentage point. However, the rates for the following were correspondingly lower: HR (0.5 percentage point), FLW (1.3 percentage points), services (6.0 percentage points) and miscellaneous items (2.5 percentage points).

> The inflation for food alone in MM moved up to 13.4 percent in January from 10.8 percent in December. Higher rates were posted in the prices of eggs, 27.1 percent from 23.5 percent; fish, 16.3 percent from 6.4 percent; fruits and vegetables, 67.5 percent from 46.9 percent; and meat, 9.4 percent from 5.1 percent. However, rates were lower in the prices of rice, 0.1 percent from 0.6 percent; corn, 2.5 percent from 3.5 percent; cereal preparations, 5.2 percent from 14.3 percent; dairy products, 9.3 percent from 11.3 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 2.7 percent from 6.0 percent.

è For areas outside Metro Manila (AOMM) all the commodity groups, except for FLW, posted higher inflation rates in January. The rates for FBT went up by 1.7 percentage points; clothing, 2.3 percentage points; HR and services, 1.6 percentage points; and miscellaneous items, 1.4 percentage points.

> The inflation rate for food alone rose to 13.4 percent in January from 11.6 percent in December.

> The inflation rate for rice increased to 7.9 percent from 5.5 percent last month. Ten regions posted higher rates; the biggest increase was 10.4 percentage points in Ilocos.

> Inflation rates for eggs moved up to 13.1 percent from 11.2 percent; fish, 11.4 percent from 7.8 percent; fruits and vegetables, 41.6 percent from 29.5 percent; and meat, 8.1 percent from 7.7 percent. Lower rates were recorded in the prices of cereal preparations, 10.4 percent from 11.5 percent; dairy products, 12.3 percent from 12.5 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 14.4 percent from 18.4 percent.

l By Region, Year-on-Year

è The inflation rate for Metro Manila slowed down to 10.6 percent in January from 10.7 percent in December.

è Inflation in AOMM went up to 12.0 percent from 10.3 percent. Except for Central Visayas and Southern Mindanao whose inflation rates were lower by 0.1 percentage point, all other regions registered higher inflation rates. The biggest was noted in CARAGA at 3.2 percentage points. Cagayan Valley posted the highest inflation rate at 15.9 percent while Southern Mindanao recorded the lowest rate at 8.5 percent.

l By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month

è Month-on-month inflation rates for all the commodity groups were higher in January except for FLW which posted zero inflation. FBT increased to 2.6 percent in January from -0.4 percent in December; clothing, 2.4 percent from 0.1 percent; HR, 2.2 percent from 0.3 percent; services, 1.4 percent from 0.1 percent; and miscellaneous items, 1.2 percent from 0.1 percent.

> The price of rice went up by 2.5 percent in January from -0.9 percent in December. Except for CAR and Cagayan Valley whose month-on-month rates were negative, all other regions recorded increases. The highest rate was observed in Ilocos at 9.9 percent while Cagayan Valley registered the lowest rate at -1.4 percent. However, the price of rice in MM decreased slightly by -0.1 percent from -0.2 percent in December.

> Prices of corn in the Philippines and in AOMM fell by -2.5 percent in January from 0.2 percent in December. On the other hand, the inflation in MM moved to zero in January from -0.4 percent the previous month.

> Prices of cereal preparations in MM also declined by -3.1 percent from 0.4 percent as prices of flour and noodles were lower during the month. In AOMM, the rate slightly increased to 0.7 percent from 0.6 percent.

> Prices of dairy products in MM increased to 0.9 percent in January from 0.4 percent in December and in AOMM to 1.1 percent from 0.1 percent as prices of milk and cheese were higher in most of the regions.

> The cold weather affected the supply of eggs, raising the index by 3.0 percent in the Philippines, 3.5 percent in MM, and 2.9 percent in AOMM.

> Fish prices continued to increase in MM by 9.4 percent and in AOMM by 5.5 percent resulting in a 6.3 percent increase for the Philippines as supply was short brought about also by the cooler temperatures.

> The unusual weather conditions resulted in a low supply of vegetables which triggered higher prices. The fruits and vegetables index moved up to 9.8 percent in the Philippines, 12.5 percent in MM and 8.9 percent in AOMM.

> Prices of chicken went up due to low supply. The meat index rose by 3.5 percent in MM and 1.1 percent in AOMM causing the national index to post a 1.8 percent increase.

> The miscellaneous foods index continued to decline but at slower rates of -2.2 percent in the Philippines, -1.9 percent in MM and -2.3 percent in AOMM as prices of sugar, coffee and tonic drink went down.

> The national index for meals eaten outside slowed down by 0.1 percent from 0.3 percent last month.

è The HR index in the Philippines increased to 2.2 percent from 0.3 percent last month. This was due to higher rental rates in most of the regions including MM.

è The clothing index for the national, MM and AOMM increased correspondingly by 2.4 percent, 3.4 percent and 2.0 percent, higher than their respective December rates of 0.1 percent, -0.3 percent and 0.2 percent. This was brought about by the increments in the prices of footwear, ready-made apparel and custom-made clothes.

è Higher prices of school supplies, medicines and medical charge raised the services index in the Philippines and AOMM at 1.4 percent and 2.3 percent respectively. On the contrary, the index in MM decreased by -0.3 percent, slower than -0.2 percent last month as prices of diesel, gasoline, engine oil, and lubricating oil went down.

è The prices of miscellaneous items in the Philippines and AOMM increased correspondingly by 1.2 percent and 1.6 percent from their respective December rates of 0.1 percent and zero. This was brought about by the increase in the prices of items for personal care and effects like cologne, sanitary napkins, toothbrush, toothpaste and deodorant. In MM, the index slowed down to 0.1 percent from 0.2 percent last month.

è The FLW index in the Philippines and AOMM registered zero inflation while in MM it went down by -0.2 percent. This was brought about by the lower prices of firewood and kerosene in many regions along with the decrease of the currency exchange rate adjustment for electricity in MM.

l By Region, Month-on-Month

è Prices in Metro Manila went up to 1.8 percent in January from 0.1 percent in December. Higher increments in the rates were noted in the prices of clothing, 3.7 percentage points; FBT, 3.4 percentage points; and HR, 0.7 percentage point. Inflation in FLW, services and miscellaneous items moved down by 0.1 percentage point.

è In AOMM, prices increased to 2.3 percent in January from -0.2 percent in December. All the commodity groups recorded higher month-on-month rates except for FLW whose rate was lower by 0.1 percentage point. HR was higher by 2.7 percentage points; FBT, 3.0 percentage points; services, 2.0 percentage points; clothing, 1.8 percentage points; and miscellaneous items, 1.6 percentage points. All the regions posted higher rates in January. The highest rate was registered in Western Visayas at 3.4 percent while the lowest rate was in CAR at 0.5 percent.

Source: National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines

Page Last Updated: February 5, 1999