Starting February 2022, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released the rebased Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all income households to base year 2018, from base year 2012 as announced in the press release number 2022-01 dated 04 January 2022. The CPI series for all income households for January 2022 onwards will be 2018-based.

Inflation rate in Cebu City decreased at 1.5 percent in May 2022

The inflation rate in Cebu City had slightly decreased from 1.6 percent in April 2022  to 1.5 percent in May 2022. Inflation rate in the city is lower than the inflation rate in Central Visayas at 5.3 percent in the same period. The average inflation in Cebu City from January to May 2022 remained at 1.9 percent. The inflation in May 2021 was higher at 1.9 percent compared to the inflation in May 2022. (See Table A.)

January 2022 had the highest inflation at 4.9 percent

An up and down movement of the inflation rate was observed in Cebu City from May 2021 to May 2022. The highest inflation was recorded in the month of January 2022 at 2.8 percent among months of the same period. (See Figure 1 and Table B.)

The decreased in the inflation in Cebu City is driven by Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco

The deceleration in the inflation was mainly driven by the decrease in the inflation of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco index from 3.3 percent in April 2022 to 1.0 percent inflation in May 2022. Also, contributing to the downward trend was brought about the decrease in the indices of the following commodity groups in May 2022:

o   Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, -1.2 percent
o   Clothing and Footwear, 0.0 percent
o   Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, 0.3 percent

Meanwhile, indices of the rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month’s inflation rates:

o   Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels, 1.3 percent
o   Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House, 5.0 percent

Indices among commodity groups: Information and Communication; Recreation, Sport and Culture; Education Services; Restaurants and Accommodation Services; and Financial Services posted a constant inflation at 0.0 percent. (See Table C)

On the other hand, increase in the inflation was higher in Transport at 16.7 percent in May 2022, from 15.2 percent in April 2022. (See Table C.)

Cebu City’s CPI remained constant at 105.9 in May 2022

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Cebu City for the month of May 2022 remained constant at 105.9. Moreover, a higher index by 1.6 points is generated in May 2022 compared to generated from the same month in 2021. The month of April and May 2022 had the highest CPI in the city at 105.9 for the period May 2021 to May 2022. (See Figure 2.)

PPP in Cebu City remained constant at 0.94

Cebu City’s Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) remained constant at 0.94 for May 2022, indicating that a peso in 2018 in only worth 0.94 centavos in the month of reference. Furthermore, it implied that the prices of the same market of goods and services valued at Php 100.00 in 2018 are worth Php 94.00 in May 2022. (See Figure 3.)

Technical Notes:

The Philippine Statistics Authority generates and announces the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) based on a nationwide survey of prices for a given basket of goods and services. Two important indicators, the inflation rate and purchasing power of the peso (PPP), are derived from the CPI which are important in monitoring price stability and the value of the country’s currency.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is an indicator of the change in the average retail prices of a fixed basket of goods and services commonly purchased by households relative to a base year.

Base Period/Base Year is the period, usually a year, at which the index number is set to 100. It is the reference point of the index number series.

Inflation Rate (IR) is equivalent to a decline in the purchasing power of the peso. It is the change in the CPI over a specific period of time (usually a month or a year). That is, 

Where:

CPI1 - is the CPI in the previous period

CPI2 - is the CPI in the current period

The Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) is a measure of the real value of the peso in a given period relative to a chosen reference period. It is computed by getting the reciprocal of the CPI and multiplying the result by 100. That is,

Approved by:

(SGD) JUANILLA R. PREMNE 
OIC- Chief Statistical Specialist