YEAR-ON-YEAR

Philippines

The Philippines’ annual headline inflation continued to move at a faster pace of 6.7 percent in September 2018. Inflation in the previous month was pegged at 6.4 percent and in September 2017, 3.0 percent.

The uptrend was primarily brought about by the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages index which further accelerated to 9.7 percent in September 2018. Relative to the annual rates in the previous month, annual increases were also higher in the indices of the following commodity groups:

• Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, 21.8%;

• Clothing and Footwear, 2.5%;

• Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House, 3.6%;

• Health, 4.1%;

• Transport, 8.0%;

• Communication, 0.5%; and

• Recreation and Culture, 3.0%.

On the other hand, the annual mark-up in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index decelerated to 4.6 percent, while the indices of education and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services retained their previous month’s annual rates (see Tables 3 and 4).

Excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation slowed down to 4.7 percent in September 2018. In the previous month, core inflation was posted at 4.8 percent and in September 2017, 2.7 percent (see Table 9).

The annual rate of the food alone index further climbed by 9.7 percent in September 2018. Its annual growth in the previous month was noted at 8.2 percent and in September 2017, 3.4 percent (see Table 7).

Compared with their previous month’s annual rates, all the food groups registered higher annual increments in September 2018, except for corn and fruits indices, which correspondingly posted slower annual gains of 8.8 percent and 5.6 percent, and milk, cheese and egg index whose annual change remained at 2.7 percent (see Table 5).

National Capital Region (NCR)

Inflation in NCR, however, eased to 6.3 percent in September 2018. In the previous month, inflation settled to 7.0 percent and in September 2017, 4.4 percent. Lower annual increases were observed in the indices of the following commodity groups:

• Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, 21.6%;

• Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels, 4.2%;

• Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House, 3.0%; and

• Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, 4.4%.

The rest of the commodity groups exhibited either higher annual mark-ups or retained their previous month’s rates (see Tables 3 and 4).

Areas Outside NCR (AONCR)

Following the same trend of the national level, inflation in AONCR was higher at 6.8 percent in September 2018. In the previous month, inflation was posted at 6.2 percent and in September 2017, 2.6 percent.

Higher annual upticks were recorded in the indices of all the commodity groups, except for communication and education which retained their previous month’s annual rates (see Tables 3 and 4).

All regions outside NCR registered higher annual inflation in September 2018 compared with their previous month’s annual changes. Among the regions in AONCR, the highest annual inflation of 10.1 percent remained in Region V (Bicol Region) while the lowest of 4.5 percent was still noted in Region III (Central Luzon) (see Table 4).

Note: CPIs and inflation rates by province and selected cities are also available upon request at Price Statistics Division (Telephone Number: 376-19-59).

(Sgd) LISA GRACE S. BERSALES, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General

See more at the CPI and Inflation Rate page.