August 2008

Year-on-Year Inflation Rates, All Items
August 2007 - August 2008

p - pleminary
r - revised

Year-on-Year

NOTE :

• The year-on-year growth rate of the General Wholesale Price Index (GWPI) at the national level went up at a slower rate of 18.4 percent in August from 21.1 percent in July. Annual price adjustments for crude materials, inedible except fuels eased to 22.7 percent from 34.8 percent; mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, 55.2 percent from 65.8 percent; and chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats, 8.8 percent from 11.3 percent. On the other hand, higher annual growth rates were correspondingly noted in the prices of food items and manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials at 11.4 percent and 7.5 percent from their respective July rates of 11.2 percent and 7.1 percent. The annual price movements in beverages and tobacco and machinery and transport equipment remained at their corresponding previous month's rates of 4.9 percent and 2.6 percent.
  

• The annual change of wholesale prices in Luzon eased to 20.6 percent in August from 23.4 percent in July. This was due to the slowdowns in the annual price increases of the following commodity groups: beverages and tobacco, 4.7 percent from 4.8 percent; crude materials, inedible except fuels, 23.4 percent from 36.8 percent; mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, 57.8 percent from 69.2 percent; and chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats, 7.7 percent from 11.0 percent. Meanwhile, annual price hikes were correspondingly higher in food items and manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials at 13.2 percent and 7.0 percent from 12.4 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively. The annual growth rates for machinery and transport equipment and miscellaneous manufactured articles moved at their respective September rates of 4.3 percent and 2.5 percent.
  

• Likewise, the annual price increments of the GWPI in Visayas decelerated by 3.0 percentage points to 9.9 percent in August from 12.9 percent in July brought about by the 1.8 percent decline in the food index. Sluggish annual growth rates were recorded in the prices of beverages and tobacco (6.0% from 6.3%); crude materials, inedible except fuels (21.6% from 37.1%); mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (41.4% from 49.6%); and manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials (17.8% from 20.2%). However, chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats and miscellaneous manufactured articles posted higher annual price gains at 18.0 percent and 7.7 percent from their corresponding last month's rates of 17.0 percent and 6.5 percent while that for machinery and transport equipment index remained at -0.2 percent.
  

• In Mindanao, the annual growth rate of the GWPI further moved at a slower rate of 9.2 percent in August from 9.4 percent in July. Lower annual price hike was noticed in food items at 13.2 percent from 13.4 percent; mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, 23.9 percent from 24.9 percent; chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats, 8.1 percent from 8.2 percent; and miscellaneous manufactured articles, 0.1 percent from 0.3 percent. A higher annual increase was however seen in the price of manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials at 4.2 percent from 3.9 percent. The beverages and tobacco index, crude materials, inedible except fuels index and machinery and transport equipment index retained their last month's corresponding rates of 4.7 percent, 10.1 percent and 1.3 percent.
  

• By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month

  The general level of wholesale prices of commodities in the country dropped by -1.2 percent in August from 1.8 percent in July.
  

  • A decrease of -1.7 percent in the food index was noted in Visayas as lower prices in some food items such as beef, milk, sugar, tonic drinks, selected fish species, fruits and vegetables were recorded during the month. On the other hand, upward adjustments in the prices of canned meat products, instant noodles, chocolate products, some fruits and vegetables contributed to the 0.9 percent growth in the food index in Luzon. In addition, increments in the prices of some variety of fish, fruits and vegetables, tubers and rootcrops raised the group's index in Mindanao by 0.6 percent. The monthly rate of change in the national index was also at 0.6 percent.
    

  • Prices of selected liquor and cigarette products were higher in Luzon, thus, the index in the area and in the Philippines accelerated to 0.3 percent from 0.2 percent. Meanwhile, prices of beverages and tobacco items in Visayas and Mindanao generally remained stable as their group's index registered a zero growth during the period.
    

  • Reductions in the prices of copra in Luzon and Visayas pushed down the index for crude materials, inedible except fuels in the three areas: Philippines, -12.0 percent from -0.9 percent; Luzon, -13.2 percent from -0.6 percent; and Visayas, -4.3 percent from -4.6 percent. The group's index in Mindanao however, had a zero growth in August.
    

  • Downward adjustments in the prices of crude petroleum oil, gasoline and LPG in Luzon effected a 6.6 percent drop in the index for mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials in the area. Likewise, the group's index in Visayas and Mindanao correspondingly recorded negative growth rates of 5.5 percent and 0.7 percent brought about by the rollbacks in the prices of selected petroleum products. These factors contributed to the -6.3 percent decrease in the mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials index at the national level.
    

  • A decline in the prices of coconut oil correspondingly pushed down the index for chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats in Luzon and at the national level by -3.5 percent and -2.7 percent. On the contrary, the group's index in Visayas advanced by 0.9 percent, the same rate posted last month. In Mindanao, prices of chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats appeared stable as its group's index had a zero growth rate. Hence, a negative growth of 2.7 percent in the national index was observed during the month.
    

  • The index for manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials in Visayas decreased by -1.9 percent as prices of selected construction materials and luggage in the area were on the downtrend. On the other hand, the group's index in Mindanao rose to 0.4 percent from zero growth due to price gains in paper products. Likewise, price additions in lumber, plywood, cement, steel bars, deformed bars and concrete products correspondingly resulted to a 0.6 percent growth in the group's index for Luzon, but this was slower than the 1.8 percent price adjustment last month. At the national level, the group's index also moved at a slower pace of 0.4 percent from 1.5 percent.
    

  • Higher prices of insulated electrical wires in Luzon effected a 0.1 percent increase in the monthly growth rate of machinery and transport equipment in the area and at the national level. Meanwhile, prices of machinery and transport equipment in Visayas and Mindanao retained their previous month's price levels as their group's index had a zero growth during the month.
    

  • The group's index for miscellaneous manufactured articles in Visayas and in the Philippines correspondingly advanced to 1.7 percent and 0.2 percent as prices of selected furniture and fixtures were up during the month. On the other hand, prices of miscellaneous manufactured articles in Luzon generally remained stable as the group's index posted a zero growth while that in Mindanao was still at its last month's rate of 0.1 percent
    

  Revisions of the series from January to July 2007 were made due to the updated price reports on asphalt and the implementation of new rental rates on machinery and transport equipment provided by the official sources.

Source: National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines

Page last revised: November 11, 2008