APRIL AND MARCH 2011

• The country’s annual headline inflation picked up to 4.5 percent in April from 4.3 percent in March. Except in food, beverages and tobacco (FBT) index, all the commodity groups posted higher annual rates. Inflation during the same month a year ago was 4.5 percent.

• Excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation moved upward to 3.8 percent in April from 3.5 percent in March.

   

  • Similarly, annual inflation in NCR went up to 4.2 percent in April from 4.0 percent in March. Annual growths were higher in all the commodity groups except in FBT and clothing index.

  • Annual inflation in Areas Outside the National Capital Region (AONCR) also grew to 4.6 percent in April from 4.5 percent in March as all the commodity groups registered higher annual increases except FBT and miscellaneous items index. 

    

     

• Year-on-Year Inflation Rates in the Philippines, All Items January 2006 - April 2011
  Month	Year
  	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
  January	6.7	3.9	4.9	7.1	4.3	3.6r
  February	7.6	2.6	5.4	7.3	4.2	4.3
  March	7.6	2.2	6.4	6.4	4.4	4.3
  April	7.1	2.3	8.3	4.8	4.5r	4.5
  May	6.9	2.4	9.5	3.3	4.3
  June	6.7	2.3	11.4	1.5	4.0r
  July	6.4	2.6	12.3	0.2	3.9
  August	6.3	2.4	12.4	0.1r	4.1r
  September	5.7	2.7	11.8	0.6r	3.5r
  October	5.4	2.7	11.2	1.6	2.8
  November	4.6	3.2	9.9	2.8	3.1r
  December	4.3	3.9	8.0	4.3r	3.1r
  Average	6.2	2.8	9.3	3.2	3.8

• Compared to March 2011, prices of consumer items rose 0.8 percent in April from 0.3 percent. This was triggered by the double-digit growth in fuel, light and water (FLW) index in NCR brought about by the increased charges in electricity rates in the area. Higher monthly rates in electricity along with the upward price adjustments in kerosene in many regions also contributed to the uptrend.

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  CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
  (2000=100)
  APRIL 2011

By Region, Year-on-Year

• The annual inflation in NCR moved up to 4.2 percent in April from 4.0 percent in March.

• The annual inflation in AONCR likewise inched up to 4.6 percent in April from 4.5 percent in March due to higher annual rates recorded in eight regions. The biggest uptick of 0.7 percentage point was observed in CALABARZON (4.6% from 3.9%). The highest annual rate of 6.3 percent was still Caraga while the lowest inflation remained in Eastern Visayas at 3.4 percent.

By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

• On an annual basis, the rate of increment in clothing index at the national level was higher at 1.9 percent in April from 1.8 percent in March; housing and repairs (H&R), 2.2 percent from 2.1 percent; FLW, 8.8 percent from 7.7 percent; services, 6.5 percent from 5.7 percent; and miscellaneous items, 1.2 percent from 1.1 percent. On the other hand, the annual rate of increase in the heavily weighted FBT index was slower at 4.2 percent from 4.4 percent.

   

  • The annual gain in the overall food alone index slowed to 4.3 percent in April from 4.5 percent in March.

  • Annual hike in eggs index decelerated to 2.6 percent from 2.9 percent; fruits and vegetables, 8.8 percent from its double-digit annual rate of 12.8 percent last month; and miscellaneous foods, 6.9 percent from 7.1 percent. On the contrary, the annual uptick in rice index was higher at 1.3 percent in April from 1.0 percent in March; corn, 5.5 percent from 4.3 percent; cereal preparations, 4.7 percent from 4.3 percent; dairy products, 2.3 percent from 2.1 percent; fish, 6.1 percent from 5.5 percent; and meat, 1.1 percent from 0.4 percent.

   

• In NCR, the annual increase in H&R index moved up at a faster pace of 2.5 percent in April from 2.4 percent in March; FLW, 4.6 percent from 4.1 percent; services, 8.4 percent from 7.8 percent; and miscellaneous items, 0.6 percent from 0.5 percent. On the contrary, annual increments in FBT and clothing index correspondingly slowed down to 3.3 percent and 0.6 percent from their respective previous month’s rates of 3.4 percent and 0.7 percent.

  • Annual inflation in food alone index in NCR continued to post a slower rate at 3.3 percent in April from 3.5 percent in March.

  • Negative annual rates of adjustments were correspondingly seen in rice and corn index at -0.4 percent and -0.7 percent from 0.1 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively. Moreover, the annual rate of add-on in eggs index slid to 1.9 percent from 2.4 percent; fruits and vegetables, 5.2 percent from 9.0 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 6.0 percent from 6.7 percent. Meanwhile, a higher annual increase was seen in cereal preparations index at 3.2 percent from 2.8 percent; dairy products, 3.0 percent 2.7 percent; fish, 3.6 percent from 2.6 percent; and meat, 0.9 percent from -0.5 percent.

• In AONCR, the clothing index posted higher annual upward adjustment at 2.4 percent in April from 2.2 percent in March; H&R, 2.0 percent from 1.8 percent; FLW, 11.3 percent from 9.7 percent; and services, 5.3 percent from 4.5 percent. Annual gain in FBT index however, eased to 4.5 percent from 4.8 percent while that for miscellaneous items index remained at 1.4 percent.

  • Annual inflation in food alone index in AONCR improved to 4.6 percent in April from 4.8 percent in March.

  • Annual increments in eggs and fruits and vegetables index correspondingly slowed to 2.8 percent and 9.8 percent in April from their respective March rates of 3.0 percent and 13.9 percent.

  • With nine regions registering higher annual growths, the rice index gained 1.5 percent in April from 1.2 percent in March. The highest annual rate of 3.8 percent was in Western Visayas with the biggest jump of 1.5 percentage points noted in Bicol (0.1% from -1.4%).

  • Annual movement in corn index was also higher at 5.6 percent from 4.3 percent; cereal preparations, 5.3 percent from 4.9 percent; dairy products, 2.0 percent from 1.9 percent; fish, 6.7 percent from 6.2 percent; and meat, 1.1 percent from 0.7 percent. Annual adjustment in miscellaneous foods index remained at 7.2 percent.

By Region, Month-on-Month

• Prices of consumer items in NCR accelerated by 1.6 percent in April from 0.2 percent in March mainly due to the 11.6 percent growth recorded in the FLW index from -0.5 percent. On the other hand, uptick in the services index eased to 1.1 percent from 2.1 percent while those for H&R and miscellaneous items index remained at their respective last month’s rates of 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent. No movement was seen in clothing index as it registered a zero growth during the month from its corresponding March rate of 0.1 percent. Slower and negative monthly rates in the indexes of cereal preparations, dairy products, eggs and fruits and vegetables offsetted higher increases in fish and meat index. Thus, the FBT index had a zero growth from -0.6 percent.

• Consumer prices in AONCR moved up to 0.4 percent in April from 0.3 percent in March primarily due to the 3.6 percent gain in the prices of FLW items from 0.9 percent. Add-on in clothing index however, slipped to 0.3 percent from 0.4 percent; services, 0.9 percent from 1.0 percent; and miscellaneous items, 0.1 percent from 0.3 percent. Price uptick in H&R items remained at 0.3 percent while those for the heavily weighted FBT items dropped to -0.1 percent from 0.1 percent growth.

• Higher growths were observed in six regions with the highest monthly rate at 1.1 percent seen in CALABARZON. On the contrary, ARMM recorded the lowest monthly growth rate at -0.3 percent.

• Among the three big areas of the country, price increases in consumer items in Luzon were higher compared to Visayas and Mindanao areas.

By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month

• Compared to March 2011, prices of consumer items at the national level picked up to 0.8 percent in April from 0.3 percent. Higher increment in the FLW index at 6.4 percent from 0.4 percent primarily effected the uptrend. On the other hand, price hikes in clothing and services items were correspondingly slower at 0.2 percent and 1.0 percent from 0.3 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively. Movements in H&R and miscellaneous items index remained at 0.2 percent while that of FBT at -0.1 percent.

  • Negative monthly rates continued to prevail in the fruits and vegetables index in the three areas: Philippines, -3.5 percent; NCR, -2.6 percent; and AONCR, -3.8 percent. Lower prices were due to the sufficient supplies of vegetables and in-season fruits like mangoes, pineapples and papayas in the markets.

  • The good production of eggs during the month resulted to its enough supply in the markets. The index for eggs in the Philippines and NCR dropped by -0.1 percent and -1.1 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, prices of eggs in AONCR went up but at a slower pace of 0.3 percent from 0.7 percent.

  • Price hikes in selected fresh fish species, shrimps and crabs raised the fish index in the Philippines at 0.7 percent from -0.2 percent; NCR, 0.1 percent from -0.8 percent; and AONCR, 0.9 percent from -0.1 percent. This was due to bigger demand for fish as consumers shifted from meat to fish in observance of the Lenten season.

  • Upward price adjustments in fresh pork, chicken and beef contributed to higher growths in the meat index at 0.5 percent from -0.1 percent in the national level; 0.8 percent from -0.6 percent in NCR; and 0.3 percent from 0.1 percent in AONCR. Increased prices of canned and processed meat were also noted during the month.

  • The price of rice in the Philippines and in AONCR had gone up to 0.3 percent. Nine regions posted positive monthly growth rates with SOCCSKSARGEN registering the highest monthly price increment of 1.0 percent. In NCR, its price however remained stable as the index recorded a zero growth in April from 0.1 percent in March.

  • The general price increase in flour and flour products resulted to the 0.5 percent uptick in the cereal preparations index in the three areas. This was slower than the previous month’s rates of 0.8 percent in the Philippines, 1.1 percent in NCR, and 0.7 percent in AONCR..

  • The miscellaneous foods index in the Philippines and AONCR gained 0.1 percent in April, slower than the 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent growth last month. This was due to the downward price adjustments in sugar and selected spices and seasonings. In NCR, the miscellaneous foods index had a zero growth from 0.8 percent..

• Higher charges for electricity rates and price add-ons in LPG and kerosene in most of the regions including NCR raised the FLW index in the Philippines by 6.4 percent from 0.4 percent; NCR, 11.6 percent from -0.5 percent; and AONCR, 3.6 percent from 0.9 percent.

• The monthly growth rate of the services index in the Philippines eased to 1.0 percent from 1.4 percent; NCR, 1.1 percent from 2.1 percent; and AONCR, 0.9 percent from 1.0 percent. This was mainly due to the slower price gains in gasoline and diesel observed in many regions including NCR.

• The H&R index in the Philippines went up by 0.2 percent; NCR, 0.1 percent; and AONCR, 0.3 percent brought about by the general increments in prices of selected construction materials.