Release Date :
Reference Number :
2018-918
YEAR-ON-YEAR
Philippines
The headline inflation rate at the national level further accelerated to 6.4 percent in August 2018. In the previous month, inflation was posted at 5.7 percent and in August 2017, 2.6 percent.
Annual increases in the indices of the following commodity groups were higher compared with their annual rates in July 2018:
- Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, 8.5%;
- Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, 21.6%;
- Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House, 3.5%;
- Health and Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, 4.0%; and
- Recreation and Culture, 2.4%.
The rest of the commodity groups either moved slower or had negative annual rate with the index of clothing and footwear retaining its previous month’s annual growth rate of 2.4 percent (see Tables 3 and 4).
Excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation rate likewise picked up by 4.8 percent in August 2018. In the previous month, core inflation was posted at 4.5 percent and in August 2017, 2.2 percent (see Table 9).
The annual rate of the food alone index further climbed by 8.2 percent in August 2018. Annual growth in the previous month was observed at 6.8 percent and in August 2017, 3.1 percent (see Table 7).
All the food groups registered higher annual increments in August 2018 compared with their previous month’s annual rates, except for the corn index in which annual gain slowed down to 12.6 percent during the month (see Table 5).
National Capital Region (NCR)
In NCR, inflation went up by 7.0 percent in August 2018. In the previous month, annual mark-up was registered at 6.5 percent and in August 2017, 3.3 percent. The uptrend was attributed to higher annual increases noted in the indices of the following commodity groups:
- Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, 8.6%;
- Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House, 3.3%;
- Transport, 10.2%;
- Recreation and Culture, 2.3%; and
- Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, 4.7%.
The rest of the commodity groups moved up at a slower pace with the index of health and education maintaining their previous annual rates of 4.5 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively (see Tables 3 and 4).
Areas Outside NCR (AONCR)
Annual inflation in AONCR continued to move at a faster pace of 6.2 percent in August 2018. In the previous month, inflation was pegged at 5.5 percent and in August 2017, 2.4 percent.
Higher annual upticks were recorded in the indices of the following commodity groups:
- Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, 8.4%;
- Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels, 4.6%;
- Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House, 3.5%;
- Health, 3.8%;
- Recreation and Culture, 2.5%; and
- Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, 3.7%.
Meanwhile, annual uptick in transport index decelerated to 7.1 percent. The rest of the commodity groups either posted annual decline or maintained their previous month’s rate (see Tables 3 and 4).
Fourteen regions recorded higher annual inflation in August 2018 compared with their previous month’s annual rates. Among the regions in AONCR, the highest annual mark-up of 9.0 percent was observed in Region V (Bicol Region) while the lowest annual rate of 3.6 percent remained in Region III (Central Luzon)
(see Table 4).
Note: CPIs and inflation rates by province and selected city are also available upon request at Price Statistics Division (Telephone Number: 376-19-59).
LISA GRACE S. BERSALES, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General
See more at the CPI and Inflation Rate page.
