Year-on-Year

• Measured from a year ago, the national inflation rate moved up to 5.3 percent in September from 4.5 percent in August. The index was estimated at 242.5 in September from 241.1 in August.

Month-on Month

• On a month-on-month basis, prices were up by 0.6 percent in September from 0.8 percent last month.
• By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year
• Fuel, light and water (FLW) and clothing rates remained at their August levels of 8.9 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively. Other groups registered higher inflation rates in September. The rates for services increased to 14.1 percent from 14.0 percent; housing and repairs (H&R), to 10.3 percent from 9.7 percent; food, beverages and tobacco (FBT), to 2.0 percent from 0.8 percent; and miscellaneous items, to 2.1 percent from 1.9 percent.
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  • The inflation rate for food alone rose to 2.0 percent from 0.6 percent in August. Prices of other food groups generally moved up during the month. Year-on-year rates of the prices of cereal preparations increased to 5.0 percent from 4.9 percent; fish, to 8.2 percent from 6.7 percent; fruits and vegetables, to 0.4 percent from -5.1 percent; meat, to 3.3 percent from 2.6 percent; and miscellaneous foods, to 0.7 percent from 0.3 percent. Decreases were however noted in the rates for dairy products, 2.3 percent from 2.5 percent, and eggs, 2.0 percent from 2.2 percent.
• In Metro Manila, the rate for FBT, H&R and services were higher by 2.1 percentage points, 0.6 percentage point, and 0.4 percentage point, respectively. However, rates for clothing, FLW and miscellaneous items were correspondingly lower by 0.3 percentage point, 2.3 percentage points and 0.1 percentage point.
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  • The inflation for food alone increased to 2.3 percent in September from zero growth in August. Except for eggs and fruits and vegetables which posted rates of -1.1 percent and -5.7 percent, respectively, all other food groups had positive rates. Prices of rice rose by 2.4 percent from 2.2 percent the previous month; corn, by 2.2 percent from 0.9 percent; cereal preparations, by 9.1 percent from 8.9 percent; dairy products, by 1.8 percent from 1.9 percent; fish, by 9.2 percent from 6.8 percent; meat, by 3.4 percent from 2.5 percent; and miscellaneous food items, by 1.6 percent from 1.1 percent.
• For areas outside Metro Manila (AOMM), only the services index remained at its previous month's level of 12.4 percent. All the other five commodity groups registered higher inflation rates compared to August. The FBT increased by 1.0 percentage point; FLW, 0.9 percentage point; H&R, 0.7 percentage point; clothing and miscellaneous items, 0.1 percentage point.
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  • The inflation rate for food alone moved up to 1.9 percent from August rate of 0.7 percent.
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  • The inflation rate for rice moved up by -0.7 percent from -1.5 percent in August. Among the regions, non-negative rates were noted in Central Luzon, Western Visayas, Southern Mindanao and Central Mindanao, the latter of which at 5.5 percent was the highest for rice. Bicol posted the lowest rate of -6.2 percent.
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  • Corn prices were still low in most regions resulting in the national inflation rate of -1.2 percent from -4.2 percent last month. This brought the inflation rate for cereals to -0.7 percent from -1.8 percent in August.

By Region, Year-on-Year

• The inflation rate for Metro Manila increased to 6.8 percent from 5.8 percent in August.
• AOMM registered an inflation rate of 4.8 percent in September, which was higher than the 4.0 percent in August. All the regions except ARMM registered higher rates in inflation from their corresponding levels in August. ARMM recorded the highest inflation rate at 8. 1 percent while CAR posted the lowest rate at 1.2 percent.

By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month

• H&R and services registered higher month-on-month inflation rates. That of H&R increased to 1.0 percent from 0.5 percent last month and services, to 0.7 percent from 0.4 percent. Prices of clothing also moved up from 0.3 percent to 0.5 percent. However, FBT inflation slowed down to 0.6 percent from 0.8 percent last month. The rate for miscellaneous items remained at the level of 0.2 percent.
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  • The price of rice continued to increase in September but at a slower rate of 0.5 percent compared to 2.6 percent in August. Eleven regions including Metro Manila recorded positive rates with the highest in Northern Mindanao at 2.0 percent followed by Western Mindanao at 1.8 percent.
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  • Corn prices were cheaper by -1.0 percent in AOMM while it was higher by 0.7 percent in Metro Manila resulting in a -1.0 percent decline in overall corn prices.
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  • Cereal preparations posted lower rates of 0.4 percent in the Philippines, 0.2 percent in Metro Manila and 0.4 percent in AOMM from their corresponding levels of 0.6 percent, 0.4 percent and 0.7 percent in August.
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  • Prices of dairy products were higher by 0.3 percent in the national index, 0.1 percent in Metro Manila and 0.4 percent in AOMM as prices of milk increased in most regions.
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  • Eggs were generally sold at prices which were 0.6 percent higher in Metro Manila and 0.5 percent in AOMM resulting in a 0.6 percent increase in the national index.
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  • Fish prices rose by 0.9 percent in the Philippines, 0.6 percent in Metro Manila and 1.0 percent in AOMM. This was brought about by low volume of fish catch due to unfavorable weather conditions.
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  • The fruits and vegetables index was up by 2.5 percent in the Philippines, 4.8 percent in Metro Manila and 2.0 percent in AOMM due to higher prices of vegetables brought about by limited supply.
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  • The meat index declined by -0.1 percent in Metro Manila while it increased by 0.1 percent in AOMM resulting in a zero growth in the national index.
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  • The miscellaneous foods index increased by 0.4 percent in the Philippines as prices of garlic, ginger, coffee and sugar increased in Metro Manila and some regions in AOMM.
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  • Meals eaten outside also went up by 0.4 percent and 0.7 percent in the Philippines and AOMM, respectively.
• The H&R index posted the highest month-on-month rate of 1.0 percent in the national level, 0.9 percent in Metro Manila and 1.2 percent in AOMM. Rentals and prices of some construction materials were higher in September.
• The FLW index slowed down to -0.2 percent this month from 2.5 percent last month. This was mainly due to lower currency exchange rate adjustment for water rates in Metro Manila.
• Services registered an increase of 0.7 percent in the overall index, 0.4 percent in Metro Manila and 0.7 percent in AOMM. Prices of medicines and charges in medical services were up in September.
• Miscellaneous items retained their previous month's rates of 0.2 percent, -0.1 percent in Metro Manila and 0.3 percent in AOMM.
• The clothing index increased by 0.5 percent in the Philippines resulting from the -0.1 percent and 0.6 percent movements in Metro Manila and AOMM, respectively.
• By Region, Month-on-Month
• Prices in Metro Manila moved at the same rate as that of last month at 0.5 percent. FBT, H&R and services posted higher month-on-month rates of 0.7 percent, 0.9 percent and 0.4 percent in September, respectively. However, negative rates were recorded in clothing (-0.1%), FLW (-2.2%) and miscellaneous items (-0.1%).
• In AOMM, prices went up by 0.6 percent from 0.8 percent in August. The inflation rate of FBT slowed down to 0.6 percent in September 1997 from 1.0 percent in August; FLW, to 0.6 percent from 0.9 percent; and that of miscellaneous items remained at its June to August rate of 0.3 percent. The other groups posted higher rates. Six regions posted higher month-on-month rates with the highest rate in CAR and Eastern Visayas at 1.3 percent and the lowest rate in Central Mindanao at zero percent.

Source: National Statistics Office