• Inflation for the bottom 30% income households at the national level picked up 6.8 percent in the third quarter of 2014. It was posted at 6.5 percent in the previous quarter and 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2013. The uptrend was attributed to a higher annual growth in the heavily-weighted food, beverages and tobacco (FBT) index at 8.4 percent.

  • Annual inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) likewise went up 6.8 percent in the third quarter of 2014. Last quarter, the annual growth was recorded at 6.1 percent and 1.1 percent in the third quarter of 2013. Higher annual increases were noticed in all the commodity groups except in the fuel, light and water (FLW) index.

  • Areas Outside the National Capital Region (AONCR) registered a 6.8 percent annual growth in the third quarter of 2014. It was 6.5 percent in the second quarter of 2014 and 3.5 percent during the same period last year. A higher annual rate of 8.4 percent in the FBT index brought about the increase.

• The quarter-to-quarter inflation for the bottom 30% income households in the Philippines moved up to 1.9 percent during the third quarter of 2014. Increments in the prices of food items like rice, chicken, pork, garlic, fruits and eggs were observed during the quarter. Upward adjustments in the prices of selected medicines, some personal care and effects and higher charges in hospitals and increases in movie admission fees in selected provinces were also noted.

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

First Quarter 2007 - Third Quarter 2014

• By Region, Year-on-Year
  

• Annual inflation in NCR rose 6.8 percent in the third quarter.

• Inflation in AONCR likewise grew by 6.8 percent during the third quarter. Higher annual inflation rates were seen in eleven regions with Eastern Visayas posting the highest annual rate of 9.6 percent. On the other hand, ARMM had the lowest inflation at 5.3 percent.

• By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

  At the national level, a higher annual inflation of 8.4 percent was observed in the heavily-weighted FBT index. Slower annual gains were however posted in the indices of clothing at 2.1 percent; housing and repairs (H&R) index, 2.6 percent; FLW index, 2.3 percent; services index, 1.7 percent; and miscellaneous index, 1.5 percent.

  The country’s food alone index increased by 8.7 percent during the third quarter of 2014. Last quarter, it was at 8.0 percent.

  Faster annual hikes were noted in the indices of the following food groups: corn, 8.7 percent; cereal preparations, 3.0 percent; dairy products, 2.8 percent; eggs, 4.0 percent; fish, 5.6 percent; fruits and vegetables, 7.3 percent; meat, 5.3 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 9.3 percent. Meanwhile, the annual increase in the rice index eased to 13.1 percent during the quarter.
  

  • In NCR, the FBT index jumped by 9.1 percent. Higher annual add-ons were likewise noticed in clothing index at 1.5 percent; H&R index, 1.2 percent; services index, 1.8 percent; and miscellaneous index, 3.4 percent. On the other hand, the FLW index slowed by 0.2 percent.

    The food alone index in NCR accelerated by 9.4 percent during the quarter. It moved by 7.5 percent last quarter.

    Double-digit annual mark-ups were correspondingly recorded in rice and eggs indices at 20.7 percent and 16.4 percent. Higher annual growths were registered in meat index at 8.5 percent; miscellaneous foods index, 5.2 percent; fruits and vegetables index, 9.2 percent; cereal preparations index, 3.6 percent; and dairy products index, 7.2 percent. The annual upticks in fish and corn indices, however, improved to 6.0 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.

  • In AONCR, the FBT index climbed by 8.4 percent. Meanwhile, the annual growths for the rest of the commodity groups decelerated during the quarter.

    The food alone index in AONCR picked up by 8.7 percent in the third quarter of 2014. It was up by 8.0 percent in the previous quarter.

    A faster annual gain was seen in corn index at 8.7 percent; cereal preparations index, 3.0 percent; dairy products index, 2.7 percent; eggs index, 3.7 percent; fish index, 5.5 percent; fruits and vegetables index, 7.2 percent; meat index, 5.3 percent; and miscellaneous foods index, 9.4 percent.

    The rice index further slowed down to 13.0 percent as nine regions had slower rates during the quarter. ARMM had the lowest annual growth of 6.9 percent while Bicol posted the highest annual rate of 17.2 percent.

• By Region, Quarter-to-Quarter

  Compared to a quarter ago level, prices of items for this particular group of consumers in NCR grew by 1.8 percent in the third quarter. This was due to a higher increment in the heavily-weighted FBT index at 3.0 percent; services index, 1.1 percent; and miscellaneous index, 0.8 percent. However, the FLW index further went down by 2.8 percent while the H&R index had a slower quarterly growth. The clothing index retained its last quarter’s rate of 0.3 percent.

  Prices of consumer items for the bottom 30% income group in AONCR advanced by 1.9 percent in the third quarter. Higher quarterly changes were noticed in the FBT index at 2.4 percent and in services index, 0.9 percent. On the contrary, the FLW index still recorded a negative quarterly rate of 0.6 percent. Slowdowns were also noted in the quarterly adjustments of clothing index at 0.5 percent; H&R index, 0.6 percent; and miscellaneous index, 0.4 percent.

  Higher quarterly increases were seen in twelve regions. The highest rate of 2.8 percent was in MIMAROPA while the lowest rate was in Central Visayas at 0.9 percent.

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

• By Commodity Group, Quarter-to-Quarter

  Measured from the previous quarter, prices of consumer items for this particular group in the Philippines picked up 1.9 percent in the third quarter. The FBT index moved up at a faster rate of 2.4 percent and services index, 0.9 percent. The rest of the commodity groups had slower rates with the FLW index registering a decline of 0.7 percent.

  With nine regions having higher quarterly gains in the prices of rice, the group’s index in AONCR and at the national level advanced to 3.6 percent. Similarly, the rice index in NCR rose 4.2 percent.

  Upward adjustments in the prices of garlic, ginger and other selected spices and condiments pushed up the miscellaneous foods index in the Philippines and in AONCR by 3.8 percent and in NCR, 0.7 percent.

  Price additions on selected fruits like mango, banana, pineapple and papaya were observed during the quarter. Selected vegetables were also priced higher during the months of July and August. Thus, the fruits and vegetables index in NCR jumped 12.3 percent; AONCR, 2.6 percent and in the Philippines, 2.7 percent.

  The difficulty in catching fish species due to bad weather conditions experienced in many regions brought about by the typhoons that hit the country limited the volume of fish supplies in the markets. Thus, the group’s index in AONCR and in the Philippines climbed 0.7 percent. On the other hand, the general downward price changes in selected fish species in NCR further caused a decline of 0.5 percent in its index.

  Price hikes in eggs noted in most of the provinces resulted to the 14.4 percent growth in its group’s index in NCR; 1.8 percent in AONCR; and 2.0 percent in the Philippines.

  The dairy products index in NCR picked up 2.9 percent and in AONCR, 0.9 percent as milk and milk products were generally priced higher during the quarter. The group’s index in the Philippines grew by 1.0 percent.

• Add-ons in the prices of selected medicines, some items for personal care and effects, higher charges for hospital services, increased service charges in beauty shops and increments in movie admission fees in the provinces raised the services index in NCR by 1.1 percent and in the Philippines and AONCR, 0.9 percent.

• The H&R index in the Philippines and AONCR moved up by 0.6 percent, and in NCR, 0.3 percent. This can be attributed to price mark-ups in selected construction materials in NCR and in some provinces.

• Upticks in the prices of clothing and footwear items generally resulted to a 0.5 percent growth in the clothing index in the Philippines and in AONCR and in NCR, 0.3 percent.

• The miscellaneous items index in NCR inched up 0.8 percent and in the Philippines and AONCR, 0.4 percent. This was brought about by the price increases in some items for household operations and personal care and effects.

• Lower prices of kerosene and LPG pushed down the FLW index in NCR by 2.8 percent; AONCR, -0.6 percent and at the national level, -0.7 percent.

Note:

1. The first and second survey reports for the CPI for bottom 30% income households from Basilan for July, August and September 2014 were not received as of October 31, 2014.

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).