YEAR-ON-YEAR

Philippines

The annual headline inflation in the Philippines exhibited a slower pace of 6.0 percent in November 2018. Its annual rate in the previous month was 6.7 percent and in November 2017, 3.0 percent.

Slowdowns in the annual increases were noted in the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 8.0 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, 4.2 percent; and communication, 0.4 percent.

The education index continued to post an annual rate of -3.8 percent, while transport index retained its previous month’s annual rate of 8.9 percent. The rest of the commodity groups exhibited higher annual mark-ups (see Tables 3 and 4).

Excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation continued to move upward as it settled to 5.1 percent in November 2018. In the previous month, core inflation was recorded at 4.9 percent and in November 2017, 2.4 percent (see Table 9).

The annual gain in food index further eased to 7.7 percent in November 2018. In the previous month, its annual rate was noted at 9.2 percent and in November 2017, 3.1 percent (see Table 7).

Relative to their previous month’s annual rates, slower annual increments were observed in the indices of the following food groups:

• Rice, 8.1%;
• Corn, 4.8%;
• Meat, 6.3%;
• Fish, 12.5%;
• Fruits, 3.9%;
• Vegetables, 11.5%; and
• Sugar, Jam, Honey, Chocolate and Confectionery, 10.5%.

Other food groups registered higher annual mark-ups in November 2018 (see Table 5).

National Capital Region (NCR)

In NCR, inflation further decelerated to 5.6 percent in November 2018. In the previous month, inflation settled to 6.1 percent and in November 2017, 4.5 percent. Slower pace of annual increases were posted in the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 6.8 percent; alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 21.2 percent; and housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, 3.8 percent.

The rest of the commodity groups were either at higher rates or remained at their previous month’s rates (see Tables 3 and 4).

Areas Outside NCR (AONCR)

Likewise, annual inflation in AONCR slowed down to 6.2 percent in November 2018. It was 6.8 percent in the previous month and 2.5 percent in November 2017.

The index of education posted an annual decrease of 5.6 percent during the month. Moreover, slower annual hikes were registered in the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 8.3 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, 4.3 percent; transport, 8.0 percent; and communication, 0.4 percent.

Index of clothing and footwear maintained its previous month’s annual growth of 2.7 percent. The rest of the commodity groups had faster annual upticks (see Tables 3 and 4).

All the regions in AONCR exhibited lower annual increments, except Region III (Central Luzon) which retained its previous month’s rate of 4.4 percent, the lowest inflation among regions. Meanwhile, the highest annual mark-up of 8.9 percent was still observed in Region V (Bicol Region) (see Table 4).

Note: CPIs and inflation rates by province and selected cities 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

See more at the CPI and Inflation Rate page.