· The year-on-year headline inflation rate in the Philippines moved upward to 5.4 percent in February from 4.9 percent in January as higher rates were registered in all the commodity groups except in fuel, light and water (FLW). Inflation a year ago was 2.6 percent.

· Likewise, inflation rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) increased to 4.1 percent in February from 3.9 percent n January. This was effected by the higher upward adjustments in the annual rates in all the commodity groups except in FLW.

· Similarly, except for FLW, higher annual price increments in all the commodity groups brought annual inflation rate in Areas Outside the National Capital Region (AONCR) to advance to 6.0 percent in February from 5.3 percent in January.

• Excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation went up to 4.0 percent in February from 3.4 percent in January.

• The overall month-on-month inflation was posted at 0.3 percent in February, slower than the 1.2 percent growth in January. It resulted from the slowdown in the growth rates of food, beverages and tobacco (FBT), housing and repairs (H&R) and services. In addition, price decrease was registered in FLW index due to the downward price adjustments in electricity rates, LPG and kerosene. Prices of eggs, fruits and vegetables and chicken in NCR went down. In AONCR, lower prices of fruits and vegetables were also noted.

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
(2000=100)
FEBRUARY 2008

By Region, Year-on-Year

• The annual inflation rate in NCR increased to 4.1 percent in February from 3.9 percent in January.
• Inflation in AONCR rose to 6.0 percent in February from 5.3 percent in January. Except for ARMM, all the regions continued to register higher annual inflation rates with the biggest increment of 1.3 percentage points (7.0% from 5.7%) posted in Northern Mindanao. Among the regions, inflation rate was still highest in Zamboanga Peninsula at 8.6 percent while the lowest rate was in CAR at 4.7 percent.

By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

• All the commodity groups continued to record higher annual price hikes in February except for FLW whose inflation was slower at 4.6 percent from 5.5 percent. Inflation for food, beverages and tobacco (FBT) picked up to 6.8 percent in February from 5.9 percent in January; clothing and housing and repairs (H&R), 3.4 percent and 2.8 percent from 2.3 percent; services, 5.9 percent from 5.4 percent; and miscellaneous items, 2.1 percent from 1.6 percent.
• The annual inflation rate for food alone at the national level climbed up to 7.0 percent in February from 6.2 percent in January.
• All the food groups continued to post higher annual price gains in February. Annual inflation in rice went up to 7.7 percent in February from 7.5 percent in January; corn, 5.2 percent in February from 4.2 percent in January; cereal preparations, 9.0 percent from 6.8 percent; dairy products, 11.8 percent from 9.8 percent; eggs, 8.3 percent from 8.1 percent; fish, 7.9 percent from 7.0 percent; fruits and vegetables, 11.1 percent from 10.5 percent; meat, 4.4 percent from 3.3 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 4.1 percent from 3.5 percent.
• In NCR, the annual rates of price additions were higher in all the commodity groups in February except for FLW whose rate declined to -0.6 from 1.0 percent in January. Inflation for FBT moved upward at 5.9 percent in February from 5.4 percent in January; clothing, 4.8 percent from 2.4 percent; H&R, 0.9 percent from 0.8 percent; services, 7.1 percent from 7.0 percent; and miscellaneous items, 0.9 percent from 0.7 percent.
  • Inflation rate for food alone in NCR jumped to 6.1 percent in February from 5.6 percent in January.
  • Higher annual price uptick was noticed in rice at 10.6 percent in February from 10.4 percent in January; cereal preparations, 8.5 percent from 7.0 percent; dairy products, 10.0 percent from 8.1 percent; fish, 6.6 percent from 6.4 percent; meat, 5.2 percent from 3.8 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 2.8 percent from 2.5 percent. On the other hand, annual inflation in eggs and fruits and vegetables correspondingly decelerated to 6.2 percent and 8.3 percent from 7.9 percent and 9.0 percent, respectively. Inflation for corn remained its last month’s rate of 17.5 percent.
• In AONCR, higher annual rates of price increments were noted in all the commodity groups in February except for FLW whose inflation rate was slower at 7.4 percent from 8.1 percent in January. Inflation for FBT accelerated to 7.1 percent in February from 6.2 percent in January; clothing, 2.9 percent from 2.2 percent; H&R, 4.3 percent from 3.6 percent; services, 5.2 percent from 4.5 percent; and miscellaneous items, 2.5 percent from 1.9 percent.
  • On an annual basis, prices of food alone advanced by 7.3 percent in February from 6.3 percent in January as bigger annual growth rates were recorded in all the food groups.
  • The annual price increase in rice was posted at 7.3 percent in February from 7.1 percent in January as eights regions recorded higher annual rates. The biggest jump of 1.5 percentage points (7.8% from 6.3%) was noticed in Central Luzon followed by Western Visayas at 1.1 percentage points (8.9% from 7.8%).
  • Annual price addition in corn also went up at 5.1 percent in February from 3.9 percent in January; cereal preparations, 9.2 percent from 6.7 percent; dairy products, 12.5 percent from 10.6 percent; eggs, 8.9 percent from 8.1 percent; fish, 8.1 percent from 7.1 percent; fruits and vegetables, 11.9 percent from 11.0 percent; meat, 4.1 percent from 3.1 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 4.8 percent from 3.9 percent.

By Region, Month-on-Month

• Prices in NCR generally declined by -0.3 percent in February from 0.6 percent in January. Prices of FBT items dropped by -0.4 percent in February from an increment of 0.7 percent in January; FLW items, -1.6 percent from 1.1 percent; and services items, -0.3 percent from 0.6 percent. On the contrary, prices of clothing and H&R items correspondingly gained by 2.6 percent and 0.2 percent from their respective last month’s rates of 1.6 percent and 0.1 percent while price add-ons in miscellaneous items remained at 0.2 percent.
• Prices in AONCR moved up at a slower rate of 0.6 percent in February from 1.4 percent in January. This was primarily effected by the 0.7 percent reduction in the prices of FLW items. Moreover, price increases of FBT and H&R items also decelerated to 0.8 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively from their corresponding last month’s rates of 1.7 percent and 2.2 percent. Meanwhile, price hikes in clothing and miscellaneous items were correspondingly higher at 0.8 percent and 0.6 percent from their respective previous month’s growth rates of 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent. Price movements in services items were still at 0.4 percent.
• All the regions recorded slower monthly price movements during the month except for Western Visayas and Northern Mindanao. The lowest month-on-month inflation at zero growth was seen in Cagayan Valley while the highest rate at 1.5 percent was observed in Northern Mindanao.
• Price increases in Luzon were generally lower than those in Visayas and Mindanao.

By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month

• The month-on-month inflation rate at the national level slowed down to 0.3 percent in February from 1.2 percent in January. This was mainly due to the price decreases in FLW items at -1.0 percent from 0.9 percent. In addition, price gains in FBT and H&R items correspondingly improved to 0.6 percent in February from their respective January rates of 1.4 percent and 1.3 percent and services items, 0.1 percent from 0.5 percent. Price add-ons in clothing items were higher at 1.3 percent from 0.9 percent while those for miscellaneous items was at its last month’s growth rate of 0.5 percent.
• The favorable weather condition that was experienced during the month resulted to heavy deliveries of vegetables in the markets. Hence, prices of vegetables moved downward. Moreover, the sufficient deliveries of fruits in season in the markets pulled down their prices. Thus, the index for fruits and vegetables in the Philippines dropped by -2.3 percent in February from 3.2 percent in January; NCR, -6.3 percent from -0.8 percent; and in AONCR, -1.1 percent from 4.5 percent.
• A slight fall in the supply of live hogs because of the heavy consumption of pork during the holiday season pushed up their prices. Higher prices of chicken and beef in some regions were also noted. These factors correspondingly raised the meat index in the Philippines and AONCR at 0.2 percent and 0.5 percent in February from their respective January rates of 0.8 percent and 1.1 percent. On the contrary, the sufficient supply of chicken in the NCR markets pulled down the meat index in the area by -0.4 percent from 0.1 percent.
• Lower supply of selected fish species in the markets brought about by the difficulty in catching fish that usually settle deep in the waters during the cold months and the bigger demand of fish during the start of the Lenten season caused their prices in February to go up by 1.3 percent in the Philippines, 0.4 percent in NCR and 1.5 percent in AONCR. These were however slower than their corresponding January rates of 3.4 percent, 4.7 percent and 3.1 percent.
• Higher prices of cooking oil, powdered tonic drink and margarine along with the continued uptick in the prices of selected spices and seasonings in some regions including NCR pushed up the miscellaneous foods index by 0.8 percent in the Philippines, 0.1 percent in NCR and 1.1 percent in AONCR.
• The rise in the prices of flour and flour products effected continuous acceleration in the index of cereal preparations in the Philippines and AONCR by 2.3 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively from their corresponding last month’s rates of 1.7 percent and 1.8 percent. In NCR, prices also moved up by 1.5 percent, slightly slower than its January growth rate of 1.6 percent.
• The soaring prices of milk and milk products further raised the dairy products index in the three areas: Philippines, 2.1 percent from 1.4 percent; NCR, 2.0 percent from 1.1 percent; and AONCR, 2.2 percent from 1.5 percent.
• Upward adjustments in the prices of corn in many regions caused the group’s index in AONCR and in the Philippines to increase by 1.7 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively, Meanwhile, prices of corn in NCR were stable as its index registered a zero growth during the month.
• The price of rice went up by 0.5 percent in the Philippines, 0.2 percent in NCR and 0.6 percent in AONCR.
• Lower charges in electricity rates posted in many regions including NCR along with the decline in the prices of LPG and kerosene pulled down the FLW index in the Philippines by -1.0 percent; NCR, -1.6 percent; and AONCR, -0.7 percent.
• The H&R index in the Philippines picked up by 0.6 percent; NCR, 0.2 percent; and AONCR, 0.9 percent. Increases in the prices of selected construction materials and higher rental rates in some regions including NCR were observed during the month.
• Increments in the prices of selected household furnishings and equipment and some items for household operations pulled up the miscellaneous items index in the Philippines by 0.5 percent; NCR, 0.2 percent; and AONCR, 0.6 percent.
• With the price reductions in gasoline and diesel in NCR, the services index in the area decreased by -0.3 percent. However, upward price movements of school supplies, textbooks, medicines and higher hospital, medical and dental charges in some regions caused the services index in AONCR to climb by 0.4 percent. The national index slightly grew by 0.1 percent.

NOTE: CPIs and inflation rates by province and selected city are also available upon request at NSO, Industry and Trade Statistics Department, Economic Indices and Indicators Division (Telephone Numbers: 716-39-35 and 715-33-47).

Source: National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines