JULY AND JUNE 2013

Year-on-year headline inflation in the Philippines eased to 2.5 percent in July from 2.7 percent in June. The indices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco; clothing and footwear; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; recreation and culture; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services recorded slower annual increases during the month. Inflation a year ago was 3.2 percent.

Excluding selected food and energy items, core annual inflation improved to 2.3 percent in July from 2.8 percent in June.

Likewise, annual inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) further decelerated to 1.0 percent in July from 1.6 percent in June. Six commodity groups posted slower annual increments with the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index recording a negative rate.

In Areas Outside NCR, annual inflation slowed down to 2.9 percent in July from 3.0 percent in June. Lower annual growths were observed in the indices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; health; and recreation and culture.

Year-on-Year Inflation Rates in the Philippines, All Items January 2008 - July 2013 (2006=100)
Month	Year
	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
January	4.6	7.1	3.9	4.0	4.0	3.1r
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	3.0r	2.6
June	9.4	3.2	3.6	5.2	2.9r	2.7r
July	10.2	2.2	3.7	4.9	3.2	2.5
August	10.5	1.7	4.1	4.6	3.8
September	10.1	2.3	3.8	4.7	3.7r
October	9.7	2.9	3.3	5.2	3.2r
November	9.1	3.5	3.7	4.7	2.8
December	7.8	4.4	3.6	4.2	3.0r
Average	8.3	4.2	3.8	4.6	3.2

• The month-on-month inflation in the Philippines decelerated to 0.1 percent in July from 0.5 percent in June. Price mark-ups were posted in food items such as rice, corn, chicken, fish, milk, cheese, eggs and fruits. Increased prices in gasoline and diesel were also noted during the month. This was however tempered by price reductions in cooking oil, vegetables, sugar, and selected spices, condiments and seasonings along with the downward adjustments in electricity rates in some regions.

  ---

  CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
  (2006=100)

  JULY 2013

By Region, Year-on-Year

• The annual inflation in NCR continued to move at a slower pace of 1.0 percent in July from 1.6 percent in June.

• In AONCR, inflation likewise improved to 2.9 percent in July from 3.0 percent in June. Slowdowns were noticed in seven regions. The lowest annual rate of 1.9 percent was in MIMAROPA while highest was still observed in Northern Mindanao at 4.3 percent.

By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

• The annual mark-up in alcoholic beverages and tobacco index in the Philippines slowed to 31.0 percent in July from 31.2 percent in June; clothing and footwear index, 3.1 percent from 3.3 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index, 0.6 percent from 1.4 percent; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house index, 2.9 percent from 3.3 percent; recreation and culture index, 2.5 percent from 2.7 percent; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services index, 2.0 percent from 2.1 percent. The rest of the commodity groups have higher annual increments with the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, health, and communication retaining their last month’s annual rate.

  The annual growth in the food alone index at the national level remained at 2.3 percent in July.

  A higher inflation was posted in the rice index at 2.4 percent in July from 1.8 percent in June; fruit index, 4.9 percent from 4.6 percent; and food products not elsewhere classified index, 3.1 percent from 2.7 percent.

  Meanwhile, negative annual rates were registered in oils and fats index at -7.6 percent from -7.8 percent and sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery index, -2.8 percent from 0.1 percent. The rest of the food groups had either slower annual gains or retained their last month’s rate.

• In NCR, the annual rate in the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index declined by 1.1 percent in July from 0.2 percent in June. Moreover, a lower annual hike was seen in food and non-alcoholic beverages index at 1.7 percent from 2.0 percent; alcoholic beverages and tobacco index, 17.6 percent from 17.9 percent; clothing and footwear index, 2.5 percent from 3.4 percent; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house index, 4.0 percent from 5.0 percent; recreation and culture index, 2.0 percent from 2.7 percent; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services index, 0.4 percent from 0.8 percent. Annual increments in the other groups were either higher or remained at their previous month’s rate.

  • The annual inflation for food alone index in NCR further eased to 1.6 percent in July from 2.0 percent in June.

  • An annual decrease of 9.4 percent was still noted in the oils and fats index and in vegetable index, -0.2 percent from 3.9 percent. In addition, the meat index moved slower at 1.8 percent from 2.4 percent; fish index, 0.5 percent from 1.4 percent; and sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery index, 1.2 percent from 3.7 percent. Meanwhile, higher annual add-ons were observed in all the other food groups with the milk, cheese and egg index retaining its last month’s rate of 1.1 percent.

• In AONCR, annual uptick in alcoholic beverages and tobacco index was lower at 33.5 percent in July from 33.6 percent in June; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index, 1.4 percent from 1.9 percent; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house index, 2.5 percent from 2.8 percent; health index, 2.4 percent from 2.6 percent; and recreation and culture index, 2.7 percent from 2.8 percent. The rest of the commodity groups went up at a faster pace with the indices for clothing and footwear and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services moving at their respective last month’s rates of 3.3 percent and 2.7 percent.

  • The annual change in the food alone index in AONCR remained at 2.4 percent in July.

  • The rice index posted a higher annual growth of 2.2 percent in July from 1.8 percent in June. Higher annual adjustments were noticed in ten regions with the biggest jump of 2.9 percentage points seen in Central Visayas (4.6% from 1.7%).

  • Moreover, the fish index went up 2.9 percent from 2.7 percent and food products not elsewhere classified index, 2.7 percent from 2.4 percent.

  • The annual movement in the corn index however, was slower at 3.6 percent from 4.0 percent; milk, cheese and egg index, 1.9 percent from 2.0 percent; and vegetables index, 5.2 percent from 5.8 percent. The rest of the food groups either registered annual decreases or retained their last month’s rate.

By Region, Month-on-Month

By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month

• Prices of consumer items in the Philippines moved up at a slower pace of 0.1 percent in July from 0.5 percent in June. The index for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels went down by 0.2 percent in July from its June growth rate of 0.5 percent. In addition, the monthly hike in alcoholic beverages and tobacco index improved to 0.2 percent from 0.4 percent; recreation and culture index, 0.1 percent from 1.3 percent; and education index, 0.2 percent from 4.5 percent. The rest of the commodity groups have either higher monthly upticks or retained their respective last month’s rate.

  • Low inflow of rice in Dagupan grain warehouses effected the price increments in the NCR markets as supply of rice in NCR are also coming from this area. Thus, the rice index in the area advanced by 1.7 percent in July from 0.3 percent in June. Likewise, the index in AONCR picked up by 0.9 percent from 0.6 percent. Nine regions in AONCR recorded higher growths with the highest rate of 3.8 percent seen in Central Visayas. At the national level, the group’s index rose 1.1 percent from 0.5 percent.

  • Upward price adjustments in chicken and pork primarily raised the meat index in the Philippines by 0.2 percent; NCR, 0.3 percent; and AONCR, 0.1 percent.

  • The fruit index at the national level jumped 0.8 percent from -0.2 percent; NCR, 1.1 percent from 0.1 percent; and AONCR, 0.7 percent from -0.3 percent. Limited supplies of mangoes in the markets resulted to its higher prices in many regions during the month. Contributing to the uptrend were the price mark-ups in banana, orange and avocado in selected regions.

  • The difficulty in catching fish species due to bad weather conditions experienced in selected areas limited the volume of fish supply in the markets. Thus, the group’s index in the Philippines grew by 0.2 percent and in AONCR, 0.3 percent. On the other hand, the fish index in NCR dropped by 0.5 percent due to price cuts in selected fish species and sea foods.

  • Increased supplies of vegetables particularly cabbage, carrots and baguio beans in NCR markets pushed down the vegetables index by 1.5 percent in the area. Meanwhile, increments in the prices of tomatoes, cabbage, ampalaya and other vegetables in selected regions effected a growth of 0.7 percent in the vegetables index in AONCR and in the Philippines, 0.3 percent.

  • Milk, cheese and eggs were priced higher during the month. Hence, the group’s index in the Philippines and NCR inched up 0.2 percent and in AONCR, 0.1 percent.

• The transport index in NCR and in the Philippines went up 0.4 percent and in AONCR, 0.3 percent. This was due to the general price increments in gasoline and diesel.

• Add-ons in the prices of selected items for personal care and effects and higher charges for selected personal care services were observed in some regions. Thus, the index for restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services in the Philippines and AONCR rose 0.2 percent and in NCR, 0.1 percent.

• Price gains in medicines together with higher charges for selected medical and hospital services raised the health index by 0.5 percent in the Philippines; 1.3 percent in NCR; and 0.2 percent in AONCR.

• Lower charges in the electricity rates pushed down the index for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels in the three areas: Philippines, -0.2 percent; NCR, -0.5 percent; and AONCR, -0.1 percent

NOTES:

CPIs and inflation rates by province and selected city are also available upon request at NSO, Industry and Trade Statistics Department, Economic and Indicators Division (Telephone Numbers: 716-39-35 and 715-33-47).

(Sgd.) CARMELITA N. ERICTA
Administrator