JULY AND JUNE 2012

The Philippine’s annual headline inflation rate increased to 3.2 percent in July from 2.8 percent in June. This was due to higher annual increments registered in all the commodity groups except those in clothing and footwear, health, transport, and education indices. Inflation a year ago was 4.9 percent.

Excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation rose 4.1 percent in July from 3.7 percent in June.

Inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) jumped to 3.1 percent in July from 2.2 percent in June. Except in clothing and footwear, health, transport, communication, and education indices, all the commodity groups posted higher annual gains.

Annual inflation in Areas Outside NCR grew 3.2 percent in July from 3.0 percent in June. It resulted from higher annual upticks in the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages; housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; and recreation and culture.

Year-on-Year Inflation Rates in the Philippines, All Items January 2007 - July 2012
Month	Year
	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
January	3.8	4.6	7.1r	3.9	4.0r	4.0r
February	2.9	5.1	7.2	3.9	4.7	2.7
March	2.6	5.8r	6.7r	3.9r	4.9	2.6
April	2.6	7.3	5.6	4.0	4.7r	3.0
May	2.7r	8.2r	4.3r	3.9r	4.9r	2.9
June	2.6r	9.4	3.2r	3.6r	5.2	2.8
July	2.9	10.2	2.1	3.8r	4.9r	3.2
August	2.7	10.5	1.7	4.1r	4.6r
September	2.9	10.1	2.3r	3.8r	4.7r
October	2.9	9.7	2.8	3.3	5.2
November	3.1	9.1r	3.5r	3.7	4.7r
December	3.7r	7.8r	4.4r	3.6r	4.2r
Average	2.9	8.3	4.1	3.9r	4.6r

• The country’s month-on-month inflation decelerated to 0.3 percent in July from 0.5 percent in June. Price increases were observed in food items like rice, meat, fish, vegetables and sugar. However, this was tempered by the downward price adjustments in cooking oil, selected condiments and seasonings, gasoline and diesel.

  ---

  CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
  (2006=100)
  JULY 2012

By Region, Year-on-Year

• The annual inflation in NCR climbed 3.1 percent in July from 2.2 percent in June.

• In AONCR, inflation likewise advanced 3.2 percent in July from 3.0 percent in June due to higher annual rates recorded in eleven regions. The biggest jump of 0.8 percentage point was in Central Visayas (6.1% from 5.3%), the highest annual rate among the regions. On the other hand, the lowest annual inflation of 1.5 percent remained in Ilocos region.

By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

• At the national level, faster annual gains were noted in the seven commodity groups. Annual changes were however slower in clothing and footwear, health, transport, and education indices.

  On an annual basis, the change of the food alone index in the country inched up 2.2 percent in July from 2.0 percent in June.

  The annual growth in the rice index moved up 0.5 percent in July from -0.3 percent in June; corn index, 5.6 percent from 5.5 percent; meat index, 1.0 percent from 0.8 percent; fish index, 6.7 percent from 6.6 percent; milk, cheese and egg index, 3.4 percent from 3.3 percent; and fruits index, 7.5 percent from 7.2 percent. A slower annual hike was however observed in food products not elsewhere classified index at 1.4 percent from 2.4 percent. The annual movements in the other food groups were either negative or remained at their previous month’s rate with the index for vegetables registering a zero percent annual rate from June’s 1.2 percent.

• In NCR, higher annual upticks were posted in all the commodity groups except in the indices of clothing and footwear, health, transport, communication, and education indices.

  • The food alone index in NCR climbed 1.7 percent in July from 0.8 percent in June.

  • The annual add-on in the corn index was higher at 8.0 percent in July from 7.8 percent in June; meat index, 1.3 percent from 0.2 percent; and vegetables index, 2.0 percent from 0.7 percent while that for the fruits index was slower at 4.4 percent from 5.4 percent. The index of the other food groups retained their last month’s rate while some had negative rates.

• In AONCR, the annual adjustment in food and non-alcoholic beverages index went up 2.5 percent in July from 2.3 percent in June; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index, 5.3 percent from 4.7 percent; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house index, 4.3 percent from 4.1 percent; and recreation and culture index, 2.0 percent from 1.9 percent. The rest of the commodity groups recorded slower annual hikes or retained their corresponding June rates. A zero percent annual change was posted in the communication index.

  • The annual inflation of the food alone index in AONCR rose 2.4 percent in July from 2.2 percent in June.

  • With six regions having higher annual increments in the rice index, its annual growth picked up 0.7 percent in July from 0.3 percent in June. The biggest jump of 1.3 percentage points was in MIMAROPA (3.0% from 1.7%).

  • A higher annual increment was also seen in the fish index at 6.9 percent in July from 6.8 percent in June; milk, cheese and egg index, 3.2 percent from 3.1 percent; and fruits index, 8.3 percent from 7.7 percent.

  • The rest of the food groups showed deceleration in their annual increases or had annual declines except for the corn and meat indices whose annual rates remained at 5.5 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.

By Region, Month-on-Month

By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month

• At the national level, the rise in prices of consumer items slowed down to 0.3 percent in July from 0.5 percent in June. A negative rate was still recorded in the index for transport at -0.4 percent from -0.9 percent. The other commodity groups posted higher monthly increments or retained their respective last month’s rate. The education index registered a zero growth compared to its previous month’s increase of 4.4 percent.

  • Vegetables specifically cabbage, potato, carrots, pechay, eggplant, garlic and onion were priced higher in most of the regions including NCR during the month. The continuous rains experienced in selected regions during the month resulted to difficulty in transporting some vegetables coming from the producing areas to the markets. This factor resulted to the spoilage of some vegetables thereby limiting their supplies in the markets. Hence, the index for vegetables in the Philippines picked up 1.5 percent; NCR, 2.6 percent; and AONCR, 1.3 percent. These rates were however lower than their respective previous month’s growths of 1.9 percent, 3.0 percent and 1.7 percent.

  • The rice index in the Philippines and AONCR advanced 0.5 percent in July from their corresponding June rates of 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent as rice in all the regions posted price increases except in CAR and Bicol region. The biggest gain of 1.0 percent was noticed in Zamboanga Peninsula. Likewise, the index in NCR also inched up 0.1 percent from -0.1 percent.

  • Upsurge in the prices of sugar in all the regions including NCR pushed up the group’s index for sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery in the three areas: Philippines, 3.1 percent from 1.0 percent; NCR, 2.4 percent from 2.2 percent; and AONCR, 3.2 percent from 0.8 percent. This was due to limited supply of sugar in the markets brought about by the off-milling season of sugar cane and its bigger consumer demand during the period.

  • Prices of beef, chicken and pork in selected regions including NCR went up during the month. Thus, the meat index at the national level climbed 0.2 percent; NCR, 0.9 percent; and AONCR, 0.1 percent.

  • Mark-ups in the prices of mango were noted in some regions as this tropical fruit was already out of season. Prices of pineapple, papaya and banana also increased in selected regions. These contributed to the 0.5 percent growth in the fruit index in the Philippines and 0.7 percent in AONCR. On the contrary, the group’s index in NCR declined -0.2 percent. NCR consumers’ wide choice for fruits like avocado, banana and pineapple pushed down their prices in the markets.

  • The milk, cheese and egg index in the three areas grew 0.2 percent during the period. It resulted from the increased prices of powdered milk in many regions including NCR.

• Higher charges of electricity rates in NCR and in selected regions primarily advanced the national index for housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels by 0.6 percent; NCR, 0.8 percent; and AONCR, 0.4 percent. Price gains in selected construction materials in some regions including NCR were also noted during the month.

• The index for restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services climbed 0.3 percent in the Philippines, 0.5 percent in NCR; and 0.2 percent in AONCR. This was brought about by the upward price adjustments in selected items for personal care together with increased prices of meals eaten outside the home.

• Price increases in some medicines in selected regions including NCR raised the health index in the three areas: Philippines, 0.4 percent; NCR, 0.9 percent; and in AONCR, 0.2 percent. Charges for selected medical services also contributed to the uptrend.

• The transport index at the national level dropped by -0.4 percent; NCR, -0.1 percent; and AONCR, -0.5 percent. The series of nationwide price rollbacks in gasoline and diesel effected the negative rates in the group’s index in all the regions except in Northern Mindanao and ARMM.

NOTE: 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).

Source: National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines

Page last updated: August 8, 2012