YEAR-ON-YEAR
Philippines
The headline inflation at the national level went up by 2.8 percent in July 2017. It was posted at 2.7 percent in the previous month and 1.9 percent in July 2016. Higher annual increments were registered in the indices of the following commodity groups:
- Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other fuels (2.2%);
- Transport (3.8%);
- Education (2.3%); and
- Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (2.1%).
On the other hand, slower annual growths were noted in the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 3.3 percent and furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house, 2.0 percent. The rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month’s rates (see Tables 6 and 8).
Meanwhile, excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation eased to 2.1 percent in July 2017. It rose by 2.6 percent in the previous month and 1.9 percent in July 2016 (see Table 15).
A lower annual growth of 3.4 percent was noted in the country’s food alone index in July 2017. In the previous month, it registered an annual rate of 3.6 percent and in July 2016, 2.8 percent (see Table 13).
Negative annual rates were recorded in the indices of corn at -0.1 percent; vegetables, -0.3 percent; and sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery, -2.4 percent. Moreover, slower annual increases were observed in the indices of rice at 2.0 percent; meat, 4.3 percent; oils and fats, 5.8 percent; and fruits, 7.3 percent. The rest of the food groups, however, exhibited higher annual growths with the index for food products not elsewhere classified retaining its previous month’s rate of 0.1 percent (see Table 10).
| Year-on-Year Inflation Rates in the Philippines, All Items January 2012 - July 2017 (2006=100) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Year | |||||
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| Jan | 4.0 | 3.1 | 4.2 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 2.7 |
| Feb | 2.7 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 3.3 |
| Mar | 2.6 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 3.4 |
| Apr | 3.0 | 2.6 | 4.1 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 3.4 |
| May | 3.0 | 2.6 | 4.5 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 3.1 |
| Jun | 2.9 | 2.7 | 4.4 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 2.7 r |
| Jul | 3.2 | 2.5 | 4.9 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 2.8 |
| Aug | 3.8 | 2.1 | 4.9 | 0.6 | 1.8 | |
| Sep | 3.7 | 2.7 | 4.4 | 0.4 | 2.3 | |
| Oct | 3.2 | 2.9 | 4.3 | 0.4 | 2.3 | |
| Nov | 2.8 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 1.1 | 2.5 | |
| Dec | 3.0 | 4.1 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 2.6 | |
| Ave | 3.2 | 3.0 | 4.1 | 1.4 | 1.8 | |
r - revised
National Capital Region (NCR)
Inflation in NCR furher moved upward by 3.8 percent in July 2017. In the previous month, it rose by 3.1 percent and in July 2016, 1.0 percent. The transport index showed a double-digit annual mark-up at 10.1 percent. Faster annual gains were also seen in the indices of the following commodity groups:
- Clothing and Footwear (2.5%);
- Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas an other Fuels (1.2%);
- Health (3.7%); and
- Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (3.9%)
On the other hand, lower annual growths were seen in the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 5.1 percent; alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 7.6 percent; and recreation and culture, 1.7 percent. The other commodity groups maintained their previous month’s rates (see Tables 6 and 8).
Areas Outside NCR (AONCR)
Inflation in AONCR was pegged at 2.6 percent in July 2017. It was the same rate recorded in the previous month while it settled to 2.1 percent in July 2016. Mixed movements in the annual growths among the commodity groups were posted during the month. Higher annual rates were noticed in the indices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 6.0 percent and education, 2.5 percent. Slower annual add-ons were, however, registered in the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 2.9 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, 2.6 percent; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house, 1.8 percent; and health and transport, both at 2.0 percent (see Tables 6 and 8).
Six regions had higher annual mark-ups while the rest of the regions either had slower annual growths or retained their previous month’s rates. The highest annual rate of 5.0 percent remained in Region V (Bicol Region) while the lowest at 1.0 percent was still recorded in Region XII (SOCCSKSARGEN) (see Table 8).
MONTH-ON-MONTH
Consumer prices at the national level increased by 0.3 percent in July 2017. In the previous month, it posted a zero growth. From negative rates in the previous month, the indices of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels picked up by 0.3 percent and transport, 1.1 percent. Moreover, higher increments were registered in the indices of clothing and footwear at 0.2 percent; health, 0.3 percent; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services, 0.6 percent. On the other hand, alcoholic beverages and tobacco index moved up at a slower pace of 0.3 percent; recreation and culture index, 0.2 percent; and education index, 0.1 percent. In addition, the index of food and non-alcoholic beverages dropped by 0.1 percent. Movement in furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house index remained at 0.1 percent while the communication index had zero growth (see Table 7).
Fare hike for railway transport service and increased rental rates of the dwelling units were observed in NCR during the month. Upward price adjustments in petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel and higher charges for electricity rates were also noted in many provinces.
On the other hand, prices of selected food items such as fruits, fresh meat, calamansi and ginger were generally lower in many provinces and in NCR during the month.
Notes:
- Revisions on the inflation rates for June 2017 were due to the following reasons:
- Lanao del Sur was included in the computation of the CPI for June 2017. Prices for May 2017 were used to impute prices for June 2017 for comparability purposes with July 2017 as the province was able to conduct price surveys in sample municipalities outside Marawi City in July 2017.
- As Lanao del Sur was not able to conduct price surveys in Marawi City, its prices were imputed for July 2017 based on the price movements of commodities of the nearest province, Lanao del Norte.
- Updated tuition fee from the province of Isabela was included in the computation of CPI for June 2017.
- 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).
(Sgd) LISA GRACE S. BERSALES, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General
