DECEMBER AND NOVEMBER 2013
| Year-on-Year Inflation Rates, All Items | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2013 | November 2013 | Year-to-date | |
| Philippines | |||
| Headline | 4.1 | 3.3 | 3.0 |
| Core | 3.2 | 2.8 | 2.9 |
| NCR | |||
| Headline | 2.6 | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| AONCR | |||
| Headline | 4.6 | 3.8 | 3.3 |
The year-on-year headline inflation at the national level jumped to 4.1 percent in December from 3.3 percent in November as all commodity groups recorded higher annual increases except communication; recreation and culture; and education. This was the highest inflation since December 2011. Inflation a year ago was 3.0 percent
Meanwhile, the country's annual average headline inflation for the year 2013 slowed to 3.0 percent from 3.2 percent in 2012.
Annual inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) accelerated to 2.6 percent in December from 1.9 percent in November. Higher annual growths posted in the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages; alcoholic beverages and tobacco; clothing and footwear; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; transport; and communication contributed to the uptrend. The annual average inflation rate in NCR decelerated to 1.6 percent in 2013 from 2.9 percent in 2012.
In Areas Outside NCR (AONCR), annual inflation picked up 4.6 percent in December from 3.8 percent in November. Higher annual upticks were noted in the indices of the six commodity groups namely food and non-alcoholic beverages; alcoholic beverages and tobacco; clothing and footwear; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; health; and transport. The annual average inflation for the year inched up 3.3 percent from 3.2 percent in 2012.
Excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation advanced to 3.2 percent in December from 2.8 percent in November. The annual average core inflation however eased to 2.9 percent in 2013 from 3.7 percent a year ago.
Year-on-Year Inflation Rates in the Philippines, All Items
January 2008 - December 2013
(2006=100)Month
Year
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 January 4.6
7.1
3.9
4.0
4.0
3.1 February 5.1
7.2
3.9
4.7 2.7 3.4 March 5.9
6.7
3.9
4.9 2.6 3.2 April 7.3
5.6
4.0 4.7 3.0 2.6 May 8.2
4.3
3.9 4.9 3.0 2.6 June 9.4
3.2
3.6 5.2 2.9 2.7 July 10.2
2.2
3.7 4.9 3.2 2.5 August 10.5
1.7
4.1 4.6 3.8 2.1 September 10.1
2.3
3.8 4.7 3.7 2.7 October 9.7
2.9
3.3 5.2 3.2 2.9 November 9.1
3.5
3.7 4.7 2.8 3.3 December 7.8
4.4
3.6 4.2 3.0 4.1 Average 8.3
4.2
3.8 4.6 3.2 3.0
| Month-on-Month Inflation Rates, All Items (2006=100) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dec 2013 | Nov 2013 | |
| Philippines | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| NCR | 0.5 | 0.9 |
| AONCR | 0.8 | 0.4 |
The heavily-weighted food items such as rice, shrimps, crabs, selected fresh fish species, fruits, vegetables, cooking oil and common condiments and seasonings were priced higher during the month. These primarily pushed up the Philippines’ consumer prices by 0.7 percent in December from 0.4 percent in November. Increments in the prices of LPG, kerosene, gasoline and diesel and higher charges in electricity rates in selected regions also contributed to the overall mark-up in the month-on-month inflation rate.
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
(2006=100)DECEMBER 2013
By Region, Year-on-Year
Annual inflation in NCR rose 2.6 percent in December from 1.9 percent in November.
In AONCR, it likewise increased 4.6 percent in December from 3.8 percent in November. Except in Davao region and ARMM, all the regions posted higher annual rates. The biggest gain of 1.8 percentage points was recorded in Eastern Visayas (7.2% from 5.4%), the highest annual inflation during the month. Meanwhile, the lowest annual rate of 3.1 percent was in MIMAROPA.
Among the regions in AONCR, the highest annual average inflation in 2013 was noted in Central Visayas at 4.7 percent while Ilocos region had the lowest annual average inflation at 2.3 percent.
By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year
At the national level, higher annual mark-ups were observed in all the commodity groups except in the indices of communication; recreation and culture; and education.
The annual growth in the food alone index in the Philippines climbed 5.0 percent in December from 4.0 percent in November.
Faster annual rates were registered in all the food groups except in oils and fats index which retained its negative annual change.
The annual average inflation for food alone index advanced 2.8 percent in 2013 from 2.4 percent in 2012.
The 2013 annual average inflation in food and non-alcoholic beverages index grew 2.8 percent from 2.4 percent in 2012; alcoholic beverages and tobacco index, 29.8 percent from 5.0 percent; and communication index, 0.2 percent from 0.1 percent. Those for the rest of the commodity groups were slower during the year compared to their 2012 rates.
In NCR, the annual inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages index accelerated 3.7 percent in December from 3.5 percent in November; alcoholic beverages and tobacco index, 15.6 percent from 15.5 percent; clothing and footwear index, 2.1 percent from 1.8 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index, 2.2 percent from 0.7 percent; and furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house index, 1.7 percent from 1.6 percent. From zero growth, the transport and communication indices went up 1.3 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively. The other commodity groups either posted slower annual movements or retained their last month’s rate.
Inflation in the food alone index in NCR inched up 3.9 percent in December from 3.7 percent in November.
A double-digit annual hike was still seen in rice index at 12.8 percent in December from 10.7 percent in November. Moreover, the annual rate in corn index was higher at 8.8 percent from 7.8 percent and milk, cheese and egg index, 1.2 percent from 1.1 percent.
Either slower or negative annual rates were however registered in the rest of the food groups with the indices of meat and vegetables retaining their respective last month’s rates of 1.2 percent and 9.7 percent.
The annual average inflation for food alone index in the area leaped 2.2 percent in 2013 from 1.7 percent a year ago.
The annual average inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages index increased to 2.2 percent in 2013 from 1.8 percent in 2012; alcoholic beverages and tobacco index, 16.9 percent from 3.9 percent; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house index, 4.2 percent from 3.2 percent; health index, 3.2 percent from 2.7 percent; and education index, 4.0 percent from 3.4 percent. On the other hand, the rest of the commodity groups have slower annual average rates with the transport index registering a 0.2 percent decline during the year from 1.0 percent growth in 2012.
In AONCR, the annual movement in the food and non-alcoholic beverages index went up 5.0 percent in December from 3.9 percent in November; alcoholic beverages and tobacco index, 33.9 percent from 33.7 percent; clothing and footwear index, 3.5 percent from 3.4 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index, 4.0 percent from 2.4 percent; health index, 2.9 percent from 2.5 percent; and transport index, 1.2 percent from 0.9 percent. Those for rest of the commodity groups either decelerated or remained at their last month's rate.
The annual growth in the food alone index in AONCR picked up 5.1 percent in December from 4.0 percent in November.
Annual adjustment in the rice index rose 8.7 percent in December from 7.7 percent in November. Higher annual upticks were seen in 13 regions with the biggest jump of 2.9 percentage points recorded in Eastern Visayas (13.5% from 10.6%).
All the other food groups have higher annual increments except for oils and fats index which continued to post a negative rate of 0.2 percent from -3.2 percent.
The 2013 annual average inflation of the food alone group moved faster at 2.9 percent compared to 2.4 percent in 2012.
The annual average rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages index advanced 2.9 percent in 2013 from 2.5 percent in 2012; alcoholic beverages and tobacco index, 32.3 percent from 5.1 percent; communication index, 0.2 percent from zero growth; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services index, 3.1 percent from 3.0 percent. Those for the rest of the commodity groups were slower with the index of recreation and culture retaining its last year’s annual average growth of 2.2 percent.
By Region, Month-on-Month
The month-on-month inflation in NCR decelerated to 0.5 percent in December from 0.9 percent in November. A slower increase was posted in the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index at 0.8 percent from 2.4 percent. On the other hand, bigger increments were observed in alcoholic beverages and tobacco and furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance indices at 0.5 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively from 0.1 percent. From zero growth, the clothing and footwear index moved up 0.3 percent; transport index, 1.1 percent; and communication index, 0.1 percent. Those for rest of the commodity groups were either zero or remained at their last month's rate.
Consumer prices in AONCR likewise increased 0.8 percent in December from 0.4 percent in November. Higher monthly mark-ups were posted in food and non-alcoholic beverages index at 0.9 percent in December from 0.5 percent in November; alcoholic beverages and tobacco and health indices, 0.5 percent from 0.2 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index, 1.4 percent from 0.8 percent; and transport index, 0.3 percent from zero growth. The rest of the commodity groups either retained their previous month's rate or had zero growth.
Ten regions had higher monthly price increases with Eastern Visayas recording the highest rate at 1.8 percent.
Among the three big areas of the country, price hikes of consumer items were generally faster in Visayas compared to Luzon and Mindanao areas.
By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month
Movements in the general level of consumer prices were higher at 0.7 percent in December from 0.4 percent in November. This was mainly due to the 0.8 percent growth in the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages index from 0.5 percent. Moreover, add-ons in alcoholic beverages and tobacco and health indices were higher at 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively from 0.2 percent; and clothing and footwear and restaurant and miscellaneous good and services indices, 0.2 percent from 0.1 percent. From zero growth, the index for transport inched up 0.5 percent and recreation and culture index, 0.1 percent. The other commodity groups either retained their last month’s rate or had zero growth.
Higher monthly price increments in rice were noted in eleven regions with Eastern Visayas posting the highest monthly rate of 2.7 percent. Thus, the group’s index AONCR went up 0.9 percent in December from 0.1 percent in November. In NCR, prices of rice likewise continued to move upward at 2.1 percent from 0.4 percent. At the national level, the rice index jumped by 1.1 percent from 0.1 percent.
Prices of selected sea foods such as crabs and shrimps were generally higher in the markets. Prices for selected fish species also went up during the month. This was due to higher demand along with the low supplies of fish in the markets brought about by the difficulty in catching fish species during the cold weather conditions. These factors raised the fish index in the Philippines by 1.1 percent; NCR, 1.6 percent and AONCR, 1.0 percent.
Potatoes, cabbage, carrots, okra, onions and garlic were among those vegetables which were priced higher in many regions. Hence, the vegetable index in AONCR moved up by 1.8 percent. This was however slower than the 2.5 percent growth last month. On the contrary, sufficient deliveries of vegetables in the NCR markets coming from the nearby provinces pushed down their prices during the month. It resulted to a 1.6 percent drop in the group’s index in the area. In the Philippines, the increment in the vegetables index improved to 1.3 percent from 1.7 percent.
The season of preparing for the Christmas and New Year's celebrations saw upticks in the prices of fresh meat such as chicken, beef, pork and meat products. These effected a 0.4 percent increment in the meat index in AONCR from 0.1 percent. In NCR, the meat index also went up but at a slower pace of 0.2 percent from 0.8 percent. The national index rose 0.3 percent from 0.2 percent.
The fruit index in NCR dropped by 1.5 percent from a 3.5 percent growth in November due to continuous flowing-in of locally grown fruits in the NCR markets. On the contrary, the fruit index in AONCR climbed 1.7 percent from 0.5 percent due to price hikes in banana, papaya and mango. These offsetting price movements caused the index at the national level to move at its last month's rate of 1.1 percent.
The national index for oils and fats accelerated 1.6 percent; NCR, 1.0 percent; and AONCR, 1.8 percent as prices of cooking oil were on the uptrend.
Price hikes in selected condiments and seasonings contributed to growths in the food products not elsewhere classified index at 1.0 percent in the Philippines and AONCR and 0.6 percent in NCR.
The soaring prices of LPG and kerosene pushed the index for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels in the Philippines by 1.3 percent; NCR, 0.8 percent; and AONCR, 1.4 percent. Higher charges in electricity rates were also noticed in selected regions.
From zero growth, the transport index in the Philippines went up by 0.5 percent; NCR, 1.1 percent; and AONCR, 0.3 percent. This was due to the general upward price adjustments in gasoline and diesel during the month.
With price increases in meals eaten outside the home and some items for personal care and effects in selected regions, the index for restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services in the Philippines and AONCR gained 0.2 percent. In NCR, the group's index still had a zero growth.
NOTES:
The second phase survey reports from Sulu and Tawi-tawi were not received as of January 6, 2014.
- CPIs and inflation rates by province and selected city are also available upon request at NSO, Industry and Trade Statistics Department, Economic Indices and Indicators Division (Telephone Numbers: 716-39-35 and 715-33-47).
(Sgd.) CARMELITA N. ERICTA
Administrator
