JANUARY 2011 AND DECEMBER 2010

• The country’s year-on-year headline inflation at the beginning of the year 2011 advanced to 3.5 percent from 3.0 percent in December. This was effected by higher annual rates recorded in food, beverages and tobacco (FBT), fuel, light and water (FLW) and services index. Inflation during the same month a year ago was 4.3 percent.

• Excluding selected food and energy items, core inflation further slowed down to 3.3 percent in January from 3.4 percent in December.

   

  • The annual inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) likewise went up to 3.9 percent in Jan uary from 3.4 percent in December as higher annual growths were seen in FBT, housing and repairs (H&R) and services index.

  • Annual inflation in Areas Outside the National Capital Region (AONCR) picked up to 3.4 percent in January from 2.8 percent in December due to higher annual price increments registered in FBT, clothing, FLW and services index. 
     

    

   

  
   

• Year-on-Year Inflation Rates in the Philippines, All Items January 2006 - January 2011
  Month	Year
  	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
  January	6.7	3.9	4.9	7.1	4.3	3.5
  February	7.6	2.6	5.4	7.3	4.2
  March	7.6	2.2	6.4	6.4	4.4
  April	7.1	2.3	8.3	4.8	4.4
  May	6.9	2.4	9.5	3.3	4.3
  June	6.7	2.3	11.4	1.5	3.9
  July	6.4	2.6	12.3	0.2	3.9
  August	6.3	2.4	12.4	0.1	4.0
  September	5.7	2.7	11.8	0.6r	3.5
  October	5.4	2.7	11.2	1.6	2.8
  November	4.6	3.2	9.9	2.8	3.0
  December	4.3	3.9	8.0	4.3r	3.0
  Average	6.2	2.8	9.3	3.2	3.8

• Higher price hikes were posted in food items particularly on fish, fruits, vegetables, cooking oil and sugar. Prices of rice and corn also went up in AONCR. Upward price adjustments in gasoline and diesel nationwide and increased rental rates in selected regions including NCR also contributed to the uptrend. All these factors resulted to a 0.8 percent overall month-on-month inflation in January.

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  CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
  (2000=100)
  JANUARY 2011

By Region, Year-on-Year

• The annual inflation rate in NCR rose to 3.9 percent in January from 3.4 percent in December.

• Similarly, the annual inflation in AONCR jumped to 3.4 percent in January from 2.8 percent in December. Except for Central and Eastern Visayas, all the regions recorded higher annual inflation rates with the biggest uptick of 1.3 percentage points seen in CAR (3.8% from 2.5%). The highest inflation rate was posted in CALABARZON and SOCCSKSARGEN at 4.2 percent while the lowest annual rate was in Eastern Visayas at 2.3 percent.

By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

• The annual price gain in the index of FBT at the national level was higher at 3.0 percent in January from 2.0 percent in December; FLW, 11.8 percent from 11.5 percent; and services, 3.8 percent from 3.5 percent. The annual price increments in clothing and H&R index however remained at 1.9 percent and miscellaneous items, 1.1 percent.

   

  • The annual inflation for food alone index in the Philippines climbed to 3.1 percent in January from 2.0 percent in December.

  • From -4.2 percent annual rate of price adjustment in December, the fruits and vegetables index picked up to 3.1 percent in January. The annual price increase in the index of rice was also higher at 1.5 percent in January from 0.8 percent in December; dairy products, 1.5 percent from 1.4 percent; fish, 3.1 percent from 2.6 percent; and meat, 0.2 percent from zero growth. Meanwhile, slower annual price hikes were posted in cereal preparations index at 3.1 percent from 3.2 percent; eggs, 2.2 percent from 2.6 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 7.4 percent from 7.5 percent. A negative annual rate was still noticed in the corn index at -0.1 percent from -1.3 percent.

   

• In NCR, the annual price addition in FBT index jumped to 2.1 percent in January from 0.8 percent in December; H&R, 2.5 percent from 2.3 percent; and services, 4.7 percent from 4.2 percent. On the contrary, the annual price gain in clothing index decelerated to 0.9 percent from 1.3 percent; FLW, 15.4 percent from 16.9 percent; and miscellaneous items, 0.5 percent from 0.6 percent.

  • Annual inflation for food alone index in NCR advanced to 2.0 percent in January from 0.7 percent in December.

  • The annual price add-ons in fruits and vegetables index soared to 4.8 percent in January from a decline of -7.8 percent in December. Growth in the cereal preparations index also went up to 2.2 percent from 2.0 percent. Slower annual rates were however observed in corn and fish index at 4.7 percent and 3.4 percent from 5.5 percent and eggs, 1.0 percent from 2.2 percent while those for dairy products and miscellaneous foods index remained at their respective last month’s rates of 1.5 percent and 4.2 percent. Annual price declines were recorded in rice index at -1.1 percent from 0.5 percent and meat, -1.1 percent from -2.2 percent.

• In AONCR, the annual price change in FBT index was higher at 3.3 percent in January from 2.4 percent in December; clothing, 2.2 percent from 2.1 percent; FLW, 10.0 percent from 8.7 percent; and services, 3.3 percent from 3.1 percent. On the contrary, annual inflation for H&R index eased to 1.4 percent from 1.5 percent while that for and miscellaneous items remained at 1.3 percent.

  • Compared to last year, prices of food alone items in AONCR picked up to 3.4 percent in January from 2.3 percent in December.

  • Faster annual growths in the rice index in twelve regions triggered higher annual inflation in the rice index at 1.8 percent in January from 0.9 percent in December. The biggest acceleration of 2.8 percentage points (4.6% from 1.8%) was posted in Western Visayas while SOCCSKSARGEN had the highest annual rate at 5.5 percent.

  • The annual price change in the fruits and vegetables index went up to 2.6 percent in January from -3.2 percent in December; dairy products, 1.5 percent from 1.4 percent; and fish, 3.0 percent from 2.1 percent.

  • Meanwhile, the annual price increase in the cereal preparations index was slower at 3.5 percent from 3.7 percent; eggs, 2.5 percent from 2.7 percent; meat, 0.7 percent from 0.9 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 8.8 percent from 8.9 percent. A negative annual growth was still noticed in corn index at -0.1 percent from -1.4 percent.

By Region, Month-on-Month

• Consumer prices in NCR generally went up to 0.6 percent in January from 0.4 percent in December. Price increments were higher in FBT index at 0.8 percent in January from 0.3 percent in December; H&R, 0.3 percent from 0.1 percent; services, 1.4 percent from 1.0 percent; and miscellaneous items, 0.1 percent from zero growth. Price hike in clothing index remained at 0.1 percent. On the contrary, price reduction was seen in FLW index at -1.2 percent from 0.2 percent.

• The month-on-month inflation in AONCR picked up to 0.8 percent in January from 0.6 percent in December mainly due to the 1.1 percent price gain in the heavily-weighted FBT index from 0.4 percent. Price add-ons in H&R index were also higher at 0.2 percent from 0.1 percent and services, 0.6 percent from 0.5 percent. Meanwhile, upward price adjustments in clothing and miscellaneous items index decelerated to 0.1 percent from their respective last month’s rates of 0.4 percent and 0.2 percent and FLW index, 1.3 percent from 3.0 percent.

• All the regions in AONCR have higher monthly growth rates in January except for Central Luzon and Central Visayas whose rates remained at 0.7 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. MIMAROPA and Northern Mindanao have the highest month-on-month inflation at 1.3 percent while the lowest rate of 0.5 percent was noticed in Central Visayas.

• Among the three big areas of the country, consumer prices moved at a faster rate in Mindanao compared to Luzon and Visayas.

By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month

• Consumer prices generally increased by 0.8 percent in January from 0.5 percent in December primarily brought about by the 1.1 percent growth in the prices of the heavily-weighted FBT items. Moreover, price uptick in H&R index was also higher at 0.3 percent from 0.1 percent and services, 0.9 percent from 0.7 percent. A slower monthly price increment was however noticed in the clothing index at 0.1 percent from 0.3 percent and FLW index, 0.4 percent from 2.0 percent while that for miscellaneous items index remained at 0.1 percent.

  • The continued difficulty in catching fish species in the cold mornings lowered the volume of supply of selected fish species in the markets during the month. This factor further pushed up the fish index in the Philippines by 2.6 percent from 1.3 percent and in AONCR, 2.5 percent from 0.8 percent. Prices of fish in NCR also went up but at a slower pace of 2.9 percent from 3.5 percent.

  • Prices of potato registered double-digit growths in most of the regions including NCR. The “pinakbet” vegetables such as bitter gourd, stringbeans, eggplant and squash were also generally priced higher during the month. The production sites of eggplant and bitter gourd in Bicol region were affected by floods brought about by continuous rains generally experienced during the month. This resulted to a significant decrease in the supply of these vegetables, thus, increasing their prices. A decrease in the supply of red onion also pushed up its prices in the markets. Prices of selected fruits also went up during the month. All these factors raised the fruits and vegetables index in the Philippines by 2.6 percent from -0.6 percent; NCR, 3.8 percent from -2.4 percent; and AONCR, 2.3 percent from zero growth.

  • The index of rice in the Philippines and AONCR rose by 1.1 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively as prices of commercial and NFA rice in the markets picked up during the month. The highest monthly growth at 3.4 percent was seen in Western Visayas. On the contrary, the rice index in NCR dropped by -0.6 percent due to the reductions in the prices of NFA rice.

  • With price increments still noted in cooking oil and sugar in most of the regions including NCR, the miscellaneous foods index in the Philippines went up to 0.5 percent; NCR, 0.3 percent; and AONCR, 0.6 percent. Uptick in the prices of meals eaten outside in selected regions also contributed to the monthly growth.

  • The meat index in NCR climbed at a slower pace of 0.3 percent from 0.6 percent as upward adjustments in the prices of pork and uncanned meat were offsetted by the price declines in chicken and beef in the area. However, higher prices of chicken, pork and beef in many regions raised the aggregate meat index in AONCR by 0.6 percent from 0.3 percent. Hence, movement in the group’s index at the national level was pegged at 0.4 percent, the same rate posted in December.

• The continuous price hikes in gasoline and diesel nationwide pushed up the services index in the Philippines by 0.9 percent from 0.7 percent; NCR, 1.4 percent from 1.0 percent; and AONCR, 0.6 percent from 0.5 percent.

• The H&R index in the Philippines and NCR advanced by 0.3 percent and in AONCR, 0.2 percent. This was triggered by higher rental rates and price gains in some construction materials in selected regions including NCR.

• Price additions in LPG and kerosene were noted nationwide. These were however offsetted by the lower electricity rates in some regions. Thus, the monthly rate of price increase in the FLW index in the Philippines was slower at 0.4 percent from 2.0 percent and AONCR, 1.3 percent from 3.0 percent. In NCR, downward adjustments in the electricity rates pulled down its FLW index by -1.2 percent from 0.2 percent.

Source: National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines

Page last updated: February 4, 2011