YEAR-ON-YEAR
Philippines
The Philippines’ annual headline inflation continued to move at a faster rate at 4.5 percent in April 2018. Inflation in the previous month was pegged at 4.3 percent and in April 2017, 3.2 percent.
The uptrend can be attributed to higher annual increments recorded in the indices of the following commodity groups:
- Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (20.0%);
- Clothing and Footwear (2.2%);
- Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels (3.0%);
- Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House (2.8%);
- Health (2.8%);
- Transport (4.9%);
- Recreation and Culture (1.5%); and
- Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (3.4%).
The annual adjustments for the rest of the commodity groups remained at their previous month’s rate (see Tables 3 and 4).
The annual inflation for food alone index at the national level eased to 5.5 percent in April 2018. Its annual rate in the previous month was registered at at 5.7 percent and in April 2017, 3.6 percent (see Table 7).
The annual increase in meat index was slower at 5.0 percent; fish index, 12.3 percent; oils and fats index, 3.5 percent; fruits index, 6.7 percent; and food products not elsewhere classified index, 3.4 percent. The index of sugar, jam, honey and chocolate had a zero growth while the rest of the food groups either posted higher annual increments or retained their respective previous month’s rate (see Table 5).
| Year-on-Year Inflation Rates in the Philippines, All Items January 2013 - April 2018 (2012=100) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Year | |||||
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
| Jan | 2.8 | 3.7 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 3.4 |
| Feb | 2.9 | 3.6 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 3.1 | 3.8 |
| Mar | 2.7 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 4.3 |
| Apr | 2.2 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 3.2 | 4.5 |
| May | 2.3 | 4.0 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 2.9 | |
| Jun | 2.5 | 3.8 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 2.5 | |
| Jul | 2.4 | 4.2 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 2.4 | |
| Aug | 1.8 | 4.2 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 2.6 | |
| Sep | 2.3 | 3.9 | -0.4 | 1.7 | 3.0 | |
| Oct | 2.4 | 3.7 | -0.2 | 1.8 | 3.1 | |
| Nov | 2.9 | 3.0 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 3.0 | |
| Dec | 3.8 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 2.9 | |
| Ave | 2.6 | 3.6 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 2.9 | |
National Capital Region (NCR)
Annual inflation in NCR during the month remained at its March rate of 5.2 percent. Inflation in April 2017 was pegged at 4.0 percent. This can be due to the mixed movements of the annual growths among the commodity groups. Higher annual rates were observed in the indices of the following commodity groups:
- Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (22.9%);
- Clothing and Footwear (2.5%);
- Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels (4.7%);
- Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House (3.0%);
- Transport (5.8%);
- Communication (0.4%);
- Recreation and Culture (1.4%); and
- Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (4.9%).
Those for the rest of the commodity groups were slower or remained at their previous month’s rate (see Tables 3 and 4).
Areas Outside NCR (AONCR)
Following the same trend at the national level, inflation in AONCR further picked up to 4.3 percent in April 2018. The annual rate in the previous month was posted at 4.1 percent and in April 2017, 2.9 percent. It resulted from higher annual gains in the indices of the following commodity groups:
- Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (5.7%);
- Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (19.4%);
- Clothing and Footwear (2.1%);
- Health and Restaurants, Miscellaneous Goods and Services (2.8%); and
- Transport (4.6%).
The other commodity groups retained their previous month’s rate (see Tables 3 and 4).
Ten regions exhibited higher annual inflation during the month. The highest annual rate was noted in Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula) at 6.1 percent while the lowest was seen in Region III (Central Luzon) at 2.4 percent (see Table 4).
Notes:
- Price movements of the commodities from the sample municipalities of Lanao del Sur were used to impute the prices for Marawi City for April 2018.
- Accompanying this report are the summary tables showing the inflation rates for the 2006-based CPI series.CPIs and inflation rates by province and selected city are also available upon request at Price Statistics Division (Telephone Number: 376-19-59).
(Sgd) LISA GRACE S. BERSALES, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General
