• The Philippines’ annual headline inflation was pegged at 1.9 percent in July 2016. It was the same rate posted last month while, in July 2015, inflation reached 0.8 percent. Higher annual increases were noted in the indices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; and recreation and culture. On the other hand, the indices for food and non-alcoholic beverages; health; communication; and education exhibited slower annual increments while annual declines were observed in the indices of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels and transport. Growths for the indices of clothing and footwear and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services remained at their last month’s rates (Table 8).

• Inflation in NCR, however, slowed down to 1.0 percent in July 2016. A month ago, it was posted at 1.1 percent and in July 2015, 0.8 percent. The indices for housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels and transport still registered annual decreases. In addition, lower annual growths were recorded in the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages; clothing and footwear; health; and communication. Annual mark-ups were, however, higher in the indices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco and recreation and culture. The other commodity groups retained their last month’s rate (Table 8).

• Inflation in Areas Outside NCR (AONCR) was pegged at 2.1 percent in July 2016. It was the same rate registered last month while in July 2015, it rose by 0.8 percent. Mixed movements in the annual growths among the commodity groups were posted during the month. Annual increases were higher in the indices of clothing and footwear; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; and health. The rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month’s rate (Table 8).

• The country’s consumer prices moved up at a slower pace of 0.1 percent in July 2016. Higher charges in electricity rates were noted in NCR. Moreover, prices of some items for personal care were also noticed in selected provinces and NCR. These factors were, however, tempered by the price decreases in gasoline and diesel in most of the regions and lower ship fares in selected provinces.

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  CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
  (2006=100)
  JULY 2016

By Region, Year-on-Year

• Inflation in NCR decelerated to 1.0 percent in July 2016.

• Meanwhile, inflation in AONCR remained at 2.1 percent in July. Faster annual rates were registered in CAR, Central Luzon, CALABARZON, Eastern Visayas and Northern Mindanao. The highest annual inflation of 3.4 percent was observed in Central Visayas and Davao Region. The lowest was, however, noted in CALABARZON and Bicol Region at 1.0 percent.

By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

• At the national level, annual increments were higher in the indices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 5.8 percent; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house, 2.0 percent; and recreation and culture, 1.8 percent. On the contrary, slower annual gains were observed in the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 2.7 percent; health, 2.4 percent; communication, 0.1 percent; and education, 1.8 percent. The rest of the commodity groups either had annual declines or retained their last month’s rates (Table 8).

  The annual growth of the country’s food alone index improved to 2.8 percent in July 2016. It was recorded at 3.0 percent last month and 1.3 percent in July 2015 (Table 13).

  Annual decrease was still noted in the index of food products not elsewhere classified at -2.6 percent. In addition, the double-digit annual increment posted in the vegetable index was slower at 12.8 percent. Lower annual mark-ups were also noticed in the indices of meat and sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionary at 2.2 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively. Except for the index of rice which had a zero annual growth, the rest of the food groups either had higher annual mark-ups or retained their previous month’s rate (Table 10).

• In NCR, the annual changes in the indices for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels and transport correspondingly declined by 1.9 percent and 0.9 percent. Lower annual upticks were also noticed in the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages; clothing and footwear; health and communication. The indices for alcoholic beverages and tobacco and recreation and culture, however, posted higher annual increases. The rest of the commodity groups retained their last month’s rates (Table 8).

  • The annual hike in the food alone index in NCR slowed down to 3.3 percent in July 2016. It picked up by 4.3 percent last month and 1.6 percent in July 2015 (Table 13).

  • Annual decline was still shown in food products not elsewhere classified index at -3.5 percent. Slower annual add-ons were also noted in the indices of meat at 3.6 percent and fruits, 7.4 percent. Moreover, the annual hike in vegetables index improved to 1.0 percent compared from a double-digit annual growth of 15.8 percent last month. The rest of the food groups had higher annual rates with the index for rice recording a zero annual growth (Table 10).

• In AONCR, the annual increase in clothing and footwear index was higher at 2.5 percent in July; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house index, 2.4 percent; and health index, 2.9 percent. The rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month’s rates (Table 8).

  • The annual change in the food alone index in AONCR was pegged at 2.7 percent in July. It was the same rate recorded last month and 1.2 percent in July 2015 (Table 13).

  • Annual add-on in corn index was higher at 1.1 percent; oils and fats index, 3.2 percent; and fruits index, 5.6 percent. On the other hand, the annual rate of fish index decelerated to 3.3 percent; vegetables index, 15.2 percent; and sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery index, 3.1 percent. The index for food products not elsewhere classified further dropped by 2.5 percent while the index for rice had a zero growth. The other food groups moved at their previous month’s rates (Table 10).

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 0.1 percent. Last month, the growth was 0.4 percent. The transport index declined by 0.2 percent during the month. Moreover, slower monthly gains were observed in the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages; clothing and footwear; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; recreation and culture; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services. The other commodity groups either retained their previous month’s rates or had a zero growth while the health index accelerated to 0.3 percent (Table 7).

  • The rice index in AONCR advanced 0.3 percent as rice in all the regions posted price increases except in CALABARZON. The biggest gain of 0.9 percent was noted in Western Visayas. In NCR, the increase in the rice index was, however, slower at 0.8 percent as price increments in commercial rice were tempered by the decrease in the price of glutinous rice. For the Philippines, the index moved up by 0.4 percent.

  • Prices of beef, chicken and pork in many regions including NCR went up during the month. Thus, the meat index in NCR climbed 0.6 percent and AONCR, 0.4 percent. At the national level, the group’s index rose 0.5 percent.

  • Lower production of corn in the country due to the effect of dry spell experienced in many regions pushed up its prices in July. Hence, the corn index in NCR jumped by 5.2 percent and in AONCR, 0.7 percent. At the country level, the group’s index went up by 0.9 percent.

  • Mixed price movements of fish observed among the regions resulted to a lower monthly growth of 0.1 percent in the fish index in NCR and AONCR. The group’s index in the Philippines inched up 0.1 percent.

  • The oils and fats index in NCR picked up by 0.7 percent and in AONCR, 0.6 percent. This was brought about by the upward adjustments in the prices of cooking oil, butter and margarine. For the Philippines, the group’s index escalated by 0.7 percent.

  • Prices of spices and condiments such as calamansi and ginger generally went down during the month. Thus, the food products not elsewhere classified index declined by 0.7 percent in NCR and in AONCR, -0.2 percent. At the country level, the group’s index decreased by 0.3 percent.

  • In NCR, varied price movements of vegetables in the markets resulted to a zero growth in its group’s index. Lower prices of garlic, chayote, eggplant and bitter gourd in many provinces, however, pushed down the vegetables index in AONCR by 0.1 percent. The index for vegetables at the national level fell by 0.1 percent.

• Higher charges in electricity rates in NCR mainly effected the 0.5 percent growth in the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels in the area. Prices of selected construction materials were also on the uptrend. Meanwhile, the group’s index in AONCR recorded a zero growth as upward adjustments in the prices of selected construction materials were offset by lower charges in electricity rates and cheaper prices of LPG and kerosene in many provinces. The monthly change of the group’s index at the national level remained at 0.2 percent.

• The index for restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services rose 0.1 percent in NCR as some items for personal care went up during the month. The group’s index in AONCR likewise inched up 0.2 percent. This was brought about by the upward price adjustments in meals eaten outside the home and some items for personal care in selected provinces. At the country level, the index picked up 0.2 percent.

• The transport index fell by 0.2 percent in NCR and AONCR. The series of price rollbacks in gasoline and diesel effected the negative rates in all the regions except in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and Davao Region. Also contributing to the downtrend were lower ship fares in selected provinces during the month. For the Philippines, the transport index dropped by 0.2 percent.

Notes:

1. The first and second phase survey reports from Lanao del Sur were not yet received as of August 4, 2016.
   
2. CPIs and inflation rates by province and selected city are also available upon request at Philippine Statistics Authority, Economic Sector Statistics Service, Price Statistics Division (Telephone Number: 376-19-59).