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.

1.  The Philippines

The Philippine’s annual headline inflation continued its uptrend as it moved up further to 6.4 percent in July 2022, from 6.1 percent in June 2022. This is the highest recorded inflation since October 2018. With this month’s inflation, the Philippines’ average inflation from January to July 2022 stood at 4.7 percent. In July 2021, inflation rate was lower at 3.7 percent. (Table A)

2.  Central Visayas

Similar to the trend at the national level, inflation in Central Visayas continued to move at a higher rate of 6.9 percent in July 2022. In the previous month, inflation rate stood at 5.7 percent and in July of the previous year, it was lower at 1.5 percent.  (Table A, B and Figure 1)

Inflation rate during the month was the highest since January 2019. With this month’s inflation, the regions’ average inflation from January to July 2022 stood at 5.5 percent. (Table B)

The acceleration of inflation in Central Visayas in July 2022 was primarily due to the higher annual growths in the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages index, at 8.5 percent; and transport index, at 23.6 percent. (Table 3)

Annual mark-ups were, likewise, higher in the indices of the following commodity groups: (Table 3)

1. Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, 6.1 percent;

2. Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels, 3.9 percent;

3. Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance, 3.2 percent;

4. Restaurants and Accommodation Services, 3.1 percent;

5. Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, 1.2 percent;

6. Health, 1.1 percent;

7. Clothing and Footwear, 0.8 percent;

8. Recreation, Sport and Culture, 0.8 percent; and

9. Information and Communication, 0.4 percent.

The rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month’s inflation rates: (Table 3)

1. Education Services, 0.0 percent; and

2. Financial Services, 0.0 percent.

Moreover, inflation for food at the regional level rose further to 8.8 percent in July 2022 from 7.6 percent in June 2022. In July 2021, food inflation was lower at 1.2 percent. (Table 7)

The uptick in the food inflation was primarily influenced by the double-digit annual growths in the Corn index at 77.8 percent; Oil and fats index at 18.5 percent; and Sugar, confectionery and desserts index at 16.9 percent. In addition, higher annual increments were recorded in the following food groups: (Table 5)

1. Flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals, 4.2 percent;

2. Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals, 9.7 percent;

3. Fish and other seafood, 9.4 percent;

4. Milk, other dairy products and eggs, 1.4 percent;

5. Fruits and nuts, 5.8 percent; and

6. Ready-made food and other food products n.e.c, 1.9 percent.

On the other hand, Rice index exhibited lower annual increase of 0.4 percent while Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses index declined during the month at an annual rate of -4.6 percent. (Table 5)

3. By Province

Following the trend of the Philippines and Central Visayas, inflation rates in all the provinces and Highly Urbanized Cities (HUCs) in the region recorded higher inflation rates in July 2022. Among the provinces, the Province of Cebu posted the highest inflation rate during the month at 10.2 percent. Siquijor’s inflation rate came next at 9.3 percent, followed by Bohol at 7.6 percent, and Negros Oriental at 6.2 percent.

Moreover, among the HUCs in Central Visayas, the City of Mandaue posted the highest inflation rate at 3.7 percent higher than its 3.6 percent in the previous month, followed by the City of Lapu-Lapu at 2.5 percent. The lowest inflation rate was noted in the City of Cebu at 2.4 percent. (Figure 2)

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 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.

Retail Price is the price at which a commodity is sold for spot in small quantities for consumption.

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.

Market Basket is a term used to refer to a sample of goods and services that are commonly purchased and bought by an average Filipino household.

Weight is a value attached to a commodity or ground of commodities to indicate the relative importance of that commodity or group of commodities in the market basket.

Inflation Rate 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,

Headline Inflation is the rate of change in the weighted average prices of all goods and services in the CPI basket. 

Approved by:

(SGD.) ARIEL E. FLORENDO
Regional Director