• Inflation for the bottom 30% income households grew 3.5 percent for the first quarter of 2013 from 3.0 percent in the last quarter of 2012. This was due to higher quarterly average inflation recorded in food, beverages and tobacco (FBT), clothing and housing and repairs (H&R) indices. The first quarter average inflation in 2012 was 2.7 percent.

  • Similarly, inflation in National Capital Region (NCR) increased 2.3 percent in the first quarter of 2013 from 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012. This was effected by a higher annual increment in the heavily-weighted FBT index during the quarter.

  • Inflation in Areas Outside the National Capital Region (AONCR) also went up 3.6 percent in the first quarter of 2013 from 3.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012. It resulted from the higher annual adjustments in FBT and clothing indices.

• The quarter-to-quarter inflation for the bottom 30% income households in the Philippines inched up 1.0 percent in the first quarter of 2013 from 0.4 percent in the last quarter of 2012. This was mainly due to the double-digit price increases in cigarettes triggered by the implementation of the Sin Tax Law in the beginning of the year. Price hikes in selected food items such as fish, flour and flour products, native cakes, corn, pork, chicken, eggs and alcoholic beverages also contributed to the uptrend.

Year-on-Year Inflation Rates in the Philippines, All Items

First Quarter 2007 - First Quarter 2013

• By Region, Year-on-Year
  

• Inflation in NCR picked up 2.3 percent in the first quarter of 2013 from 1.7 percent in fourth quarter of 2012.

• Likewise, inflation in AONCR advanced to 3.6 percent during the quarter from the 3.0 percent growth in the last quarter of 2012. Eleven regions posted higher inflation rates with Central Visayas recording the highest annual rate of 8.6 percent. The lowest annual change was in ARMM at 0.3 percent.

• By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

  The quarterly annual increment in FBT index in the Philippines was higher at 3.9 percent in the first quarter 2013 from its last quarter rate of 2.8 percent; clothing index, 2.8 percent from 2.7 percent; and H&R index, 4.2 percent from 4.1 percent. On the other hand, a slower annual mark-up was observed in fuel, light and water (FLW) index at 2.7 percent from 5.6 percent and services index, 2.0 percent from 2.3 percent. Quarterly inflation in the miscellaneous index remained at 2.2 percent.

  The inflation in the heavily-weighted food alone index at the national level went up 3.0 percent during the quarter from 2.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012.

  Annual hike in corn index was higher at 6.1 percent in the first quarter of 2013 from 4.7 percent in fourth quarter of 2012; cereal preparations index, 3.6 percent from 3.5 percent; fruits and vegetables index, 1.8 percent from -0.3 percent; and meat index, 1.6 percent from 0.8 percent. On the contrary, the annual gain in the rice index eased to 1.6 percent from 1.7 percent; dairy products index, 1.8 percent from 2.3 percent; eggs index, 3.1 percent from 3.4 percent; and fish index, 6.9 percent from 7.0 percent. The miscellaneous foods index retained its last quarter’s rate of 2.2 percent.
  

  • In NCR, the annual adjustment in FBT index advanced 3.0 percent in the first quarter of 2013 from 1.8 percent in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, those for the rest of the commodity groups were either slower or were negative.

    The annual growth of the food alone index in NCR grew 2.2 percent in the first quarter of the year from 1.4 percent in fourth quarter of 2012.

    The biggest leap of 10.8 percentage points (2.2% from -8.6%) was observed in fruits and vegetables index. In addition, quarterly average annual uptick in rice index was higher at 1.3 percent from 1.0 percent and cereal preparations index, 2.9 percent from 2.7 percent. The rest of the food groups recorded slower annual increases.

  • In AONCR, the annual change in FBT index was higher at 3.9 percent in the first quarter of 2013 from 2.9 percent in the last quarter of 2012 and clothing index, 2.8 percent from 2.7 percent. The rest of the commodity groups moved at slower rates or retained their previous quarter’s rates.

    The food alone index in AONCR rose 3.1 percent in the first quarter of 2013 from 2.7 percent in the fourth quarter last year.

    The annual movement in the corn index climbed 6.1 percent during the quarter from 4.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012; cereal preparations index, 3.7 percent from 3.5 percent; fruits and vegetables index, 1.8 percent from -0.1 percent; and meat index, 1.6 percent from 0.8 percent. The rest of the food groups recorded slower rates except in fish index whose quarterly growth remained at 7.0 percent.

    The annual uptick in the rice index decelerated to 1.6 percent in the first quarter of 2013 from 1.7 percent last quarter. Negative annual rates were seen in four regions. Moreover, five regions had slower annual growths. The biggest slowdown of 3.7 percentage points was noted in SOCCSKSARGEN (1.2% from 4.9%).

• By Region, Quarter-to-Quarter

  Compared with a quarter ago level, prices for this particular group of consumers in NCR went up 0.2 percent in the first quarter 2013 from -0.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012. This resulted from a 0.2 percent increase in the heavily-weighted FBT index during the quarter. Likewise, H&R index inched up 0.5 percent from 0.3 percent in the previous quarter. The rest of the commodity groups either retained their previous quarter’s rate or had slower growth with FLW posting a negative rate.

  Prices of consumer items in AONCR jumped by 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2013 from 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 due to higher upticks observed in all the commodity groups except for the indices of FLW and services.

  Higher quarterly growth rates were seen in 11 regions. The highest rate at 2.1 percent was in Northern Mindanao while the lowest was in CAR at -0.2 percent.

  Among the three big areas of the country, price movements in consumer items in Mindanao were faster compared to Luzon and Visayas areas.

• By Commodity Group, Quarter-to-Quarter

  Measured from the previous quarter, prices of items for this group of consumers in the Philippines picked up 1.0 percent in the first quarter 2013 from 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter 2012. Quarterly growths in the heavily-weighted FBT and miscellaneous indices correspondingly increased to 1.3 percent and 0.4 percent from their respective last quarter’s rate of 0.3 percent. Clothing and H&R indices likewise grew 0.6 percent in the first quarter from 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent of the previous quarter, respectively. The services index retained its previous quarter’s rate of 0.1 percent while FLW index had a zero growth.

  With eight regions having higher quarterly gains in the prices of rice, the group’s index in the Philippines and AONCR grew by 0.1 percent during the first quarter of the year. The highest quarterly rate of 3.6 percent was posted in Central Visayas. High-priced NFA rice available in NCR markets likewise pushed up the group’s index for the area during the quarter by 0.6 percent.

  The corn index in the Philippines and AONCR accelerated by 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013 from 0.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012. The low supplies of corn raised its prices in the markets. Meanwhile, the corn index in NCR further declined as it still recorded a negative quarterly rate of 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2013 from -0.4 percent in the previous quarter.

  Price hikes in eggs were noted in 12 regions. Thus, the eggs index in the Philippines and AONCR inched up 0.5 percent and in NCR, 0.4 percent.

  The difficulty in catching fish species in the cold mornings in January and February lowered their volume of supplies in the markets. Thus, the fish index in the Philippines and AONCR moved up by 2.3 percent from 0.8 percent. In NCR, higher prices of shrimps and mussels pushed up the fish index in NCR by 0.6 percent.

  Upward price adjustments in animal feeds raised prices of meat in the markets. Hence, the meat index in the three areas grew during the quarter: Philippines and AONCR, 0.9 percent and NCR, 0.2 percent.

  The dairy products index in the Philippines and AONCR increased by 0.2 percent due to the increments in the prices of milk and milk products. On the other hand, the dairy products index in NCR dropped by 0.4 percent as prices of milk in the area generally went down during the quarter.

  The favorable weather conditions that prevailed in production areas in Luzon for the first quarter of the year improved harvests of vegetables. This brought abundant supplies of vegetables in the markets, thus, the fruits and vegetables index in NCR declined by 5.8 percent. Meanwhile, the zero growth in the fruits and vegetables index posted in AONCR was due to the mixed price movements of fruits and vegetables observed among the regions. While some regions had reported price reductions in vegetables, other regions had higher prices of fruits. At the national level, the fruits and vegetables index had a negative quarterly rate of 0.1 percent.

  Prices of cooking oil, sugar and sugar products generally declined during the quarter. This pushed down the miscellaneous foods index in Philippines and AONCR by 1.0 percent and NCR, -0.1 percent.
  

• With higher prices of selected construction materials and higher rental rates of dwelling units in most of the regions, the index for H&R in the NCR and AONCR rose by 0.5 percent and in the Philippines, 0.6 percent.

• The clothing index in the Philippines and AONCR grew by 0.6 percent and in NCR, 0.1 percent. This was brought about by the price hikes in clothing and footwear items and higher charges for sewing services for clothing items.

• Prices for some items for household operations and personal care and effects generally went up during the quarter. Thus, miscellaneous items index in the Philippines climbed by 0.4 percent; NCR, 0.2 percent; and AONCR, 0.5 percent.

• The services index in the Philippines, NCR and AONCR rose 0.1 percent. Increased charges for selected medical and personal services in some regions including NCR were generally observed during the quarter.

• Decreases in LPG prices and lower charges in electricity rates in NCR effected the 0.5 percent reduction in the FLW index in the area. In AONCR, the group’s index however, moved up by 0.1 percent due to higher charges in electricity rates in selected regions. These offsetting price movements resulted to a zero growth in the national index for the quarter.

Note:

1. The second survey reports from Tawi-tawi for January and March were not received as of April 2013.

2. Monthly CPIs for the bottom 30% income households by province and selected cities are also available upon request at NSO, Industry and Trade Statistics Department, Economic and Indicators Division (Telephone Numbers: 716-39-35 and 715-33-47).