Year-on-Year Inflation Rates
Philippines, All Items

Month-on-Month Inflation Rates
Philippines, All Items

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
(1994=100)
DECEMBER 1998

l By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

è All the commodity groups recorded lower inflation rates in December. The rates for food, beverages and tobacco (FBT) slowed down to 11. 2 percent from 12.2 percent; clothing, 7.2 percent from 7.4 percent; housing and repairs (H&R), 9.8 percent from 10.0 percent; fuel, light and water (FLW), 6.3 percent from 6.5 percent; services, 11.5 percent from 12.5 percent; and miscellaneous items, 8.9 percent from 9.4 percent.

> The inflation rate for food alone was 11.5 percent in December, lower than 12.3 percent recorded in November. Lower rates were noted in the prices of rice, 4.8 percent from 4.9 percent; corn, -4.2 percent from -4.0 percent; cereal preparations, 12.3 percent from 12.5 percent; dairy products, 12.2 percent from 12.4 percent; fish, 7.6 percent from 8.2 percent; fruits and vegetables, 33.5 percent from 33.9 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 14.6 percent from 18.0 percent. However, higher rates were posted in the prices of eggs, 14.0 percent from 13.4 percent; and meat, 6.8 percent from 6.7 percent.

è In Metro Manila (MM), all the commodity groups registered lower inflation rates except for H&R whose inflation rate was higher by 0.1 percentage point. FBT declined by 1.6 percentage points; clothing, 0.5 percentage point; FLW, 1.4 percentage points; services, 1.8 percentage points; and miscellaneous items, 0.8 percentage point.

> The inflation for food alone in MM moved down to 10.8 percent from 12.4 percent in November. Lower rates were posted in the prices of corn, 3.5 percent from 5.6 percent; cereal preparations, 14.3 percent from 14.8 percent; dairy products, 11.3 percent from 11.5 percent; fish, 6.4 percent from 11.5 percent; fruits and vegetables, 46.9 percent from 47.7 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 6.0 percent from 9.5 percent. However, higher rates were posted in the prices of rice, 0.6 percent from 0.3 percent; eggs, 23.5 percent from 22.0 percent; and meat, 5.1 percent from 4.6 percent.

® For areas outside Metro Manila (AOMM), all the commodity groups posted lower inflation rates except for that of FLW whose rate was higher by 0.4 percentage point. The rates for FBT and services were lower by 0.7 percentage point; clothing, 0.1 percentage point; and H&R and miscellaneous items, 0.4 percentage point.

> The inflation rate for food alone went down to 11.6 percent from 12.3 percent in November.

> The inflation rate for rice moved down to 5.5 percent from 5.7 percent last month. Eleven regions posted lower rates; the biggest decline was 2.7 percentage points in Northern Mindanao.

> Inflation rates for corn decreased to -4.3 percent from -4.2 percent; cereal preparations, 11.5 percent from 11.7 percent; dairy products, 12.5 percent from 12.8 percent; fruits and vegetables, 29.5 percent from 29.7 percent; meat, 7.7 percent from 7.8 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 18.4 percent from 21.8 percent. Higher rates were recorded in the prices of eggs, 11.2 percent from 10.8 percent; and fish, 7.8 percent from 7.5 percent.

l By Region, Year-on-Year

® The inflation rate for Metro Manila went down to 10.6 percent in December from 11.8 percent in November.

® AOMM inflation decreased to 10.3 percent from 10.9 percent in November. Thirteen regions registered declines in their inflation rates. The biggest was noted in Ilocos region at 0. 9 percentage point. Central Mindanao posted the lowest inflation rate at 7.5 percent while Cagayan Valley recorded the highest rate at 13.1 percent.

l By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month

è Month-on-month inflation rates for all the commodity groups were lower in December except for H&R whose rate increased to 0.3 percent from 0.2 percent. FBT declined to -0.4 percent from 2.4 percent; clothing, 0.1 percent from 0.3 percent; FLW, 0.3 percent from 1.2 percent; services 0.1 percent from 0.5 percent; and miscellaneous items, 0.1 percent from 0.6 percent.

• The price of rice went down to -0.9 percent in December from zero growth in November brought about by the on-going harvest season. Month-on-month rates were negative in twelve regions. The lowest rate was observed in Central Mindanao at -3.6 percent while Central Visayas registered the highest rate at 1.2 percent. Similarly, the price of rice in MM decreased as it posted -0.2 percent from zero growth last month.
• Prices of corn in the Philippines and AOMM rose to 0.2 percent in December from -2.4 percent last month and in MM, -0.4 percent from -0.8 percent.
• Prices of cereal preparations also increased but at a slower rate of 0.5 percent from 0.7 percent in the Philippines; 0.4 percent from 1.1 percent in MM and 0.6 percent from 0.7 percent in AOMM. This was brought about by the increased in the prices of flour, bread, and noodles during the month.
• Prices of dairy products in MM went up to 0.4 percent from 0.2 percent in November In AOMM, prices of dairy products also increased but at a slower rate of 0.1 percent from 0.2 percent as prices of condensed and powdered milk increased in most of the regions.
• The index for eggs slowed down in the Philippines, 0.6 percent from 1.3 percent; MM, 1.1 percent from 1.6 percent; and AOMM, 0.5 percent from 1.0 percent.
• Prices of fish also went up by 0.9 percent from 1.0 percent in the Philippines; 0.7 percent from 1.1 percent, AOMM; and 1.6 percent from 0.6 percent, MM. Higher prices were triggered by the difficulty in catching fishes which usually settle deep in the waters during the cold months.
• The fruits and vegetables index also slowed down by 0.2 percent from 13.0 percent in the Philippines and 0.3 percent from 13.1 percent in AOMM. In MM, prices of fruits and vegetables went down to -0.2 percent from 13.1 percent in November as the supplies from vegetable producing regions had normalized after they recovered from the devastation of the typhoons in November.
• Higher prices of pork, chicken, beef and processed meat like tocino and hotdog in MM and in many regions pushed up the meat index by 2.2 percent in MM and 0.3 percent in AOMM causing the national index to post a 1.0 percent growth.
• The miscellaneous foods index declined by -2.6 percent in the Philippines, -.2 5 percent in MM and -2.7 percent in AOMM as prices of sugar, cooking oil, and vinegar went down during the month.
• The national index for meals eaten outside increased to 0.3 percent from 0.2 percent last month.

® The FLW index in MM went down by -0.1 percent while it increased in AOMM at 0.5 percent resulting to a 0.3 percent increase at the national level. This was brought about by higher prices of LPG, firewood, and charcoal in many regions.

® The H&R index in the Philippines increased to 0.3 percent from 0.2 percent last month. This was due to the increases in the prices of selected construction materials like cement, common wire nails, plywood and lumber along with the higher rental rates in some provinces.

® Clothing indices for the national and AOMM increased correspondingly by 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent, slower than their respective November rates of 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent. This was brought about by the increments in the prices of footwear, ready-made apparel and sewing accessories in many regions.

® Services index also increased but at slower rates of 0.1 percent and 0.3 percent in the Philippines and AOMM from their corresponding rates of 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent last month. This was brought about by the increase in the prices of school supplies, medicines, movie admission and medical charge. In MM, the index decreased by -0.2 percent from 0.6 percent in November due to declined in the prices of gasoline, diesel and motor oil.

® Similarly, miscellaneous items also increased but at slower rates of 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent in the Philippines and MM. This was brought about by the increased in prices of wrist watch, bath soap, and toothpaste. In AOMM, the index posted a zero growth from 0.5 percent last month.

l By Region, Month-on-Month

® Prices in Metro Manila remained stable at it posted a zero growth in December from 1.2 percent in November. Lower rates were noted in the prices of FBT, 2.2 percentage points; FLW, 1.8 percentage points; services, 0.8 percentage point; miscellaneous items, 0.7 percentage point; and clothing, 0.4 percentage point. A higher rate was registered in H&R, 0.4 percentage point.

® In AOMM, prices decreased to -0.2 percent in December from 1.6 percent last month. All the commodity groups recorded lower month-on-month rates. FBT were lower by 3.1 percentage points; FLW and miscellaneous items, 0.5 percentage point; clothing, 0.2 percentage point; H&R and services, 0.1 percentage point. Nine regions posted negative rates with the lowest rate recorded in Ilocos at -0.9 percent while the highest rate was registered in Southern Mindanao at 0.7 percent.

Source: National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines