MAY AND APRIL 2011

• Food items such as rice, flour and flour products, meat and meals eaten outside the home were priced higher in many regions. However, price rollbacks in gasoline and diesel and lower charges in electricity rates were observed in NCR. Slower monthly adjustments in electricity rates in many regions were also noted during the month. These mixed price trends resulted to a zero growth in the prices of consumer items at the national level in May from 0.6 percent in April.

  ---

  CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
  (2000=100)
  MAY 2011

By Region, Year-on-Year

• The annual inflation in NCR accelerated to 4.2 percent in May from 3.5 percent in April.

• The annual inflation in AONCR remained at its April rate of 4.6 percent. Higher annual growths were posted in six regions with Eastern Visayas registering the biggest increase of 0.7 percentage point (4.1% from 3.4%). The highest annual rate of 6.3 percent was still observed in Caraga while the lowest inflation was in Bicol at 3.5 percent.

By Commodity Group, Year-on-Year

• At the national level, annual inflation in clothing index was higher at 2.1 percent in May from 2.0 percent in April; FLW, 8.7 percent from 6.0 percent; and miscellaneous items, 1.3 percent from 1.2 percent. Annual rate in H&R was however slower at 2.1 percent from 2.3 percent while those for FBT and services index remained at their corresponding previous month’s rates of 4.2 percent and 6.5 percent.

  The annual increment in the food alone index in the Philippines continued to move at a slower pace of 4.2 percent in May from 4.3 percent in April.

  Annual uptick in fruits and vegetables index decelerated to 5.8 percent in May from 8.8 percent in April; meat, 1.0 percent from 1.1 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 6.8 percent from 6.9 percent. On the other hand, the annual gain in rice index was higher at 2.1 percent from 1.3 percent; corn, 6.9 percent from 5.5 percent; cereal preparations, 5.1 percent from 4.7 percent; and dairy products, 2.5 percent from 2.3 percent. Annual growths in eggs and fish index remained at their respective April rates of 2.6 percent and 6.1 percent.

• In NCR, the FBT index registered higher annual gain at 3.4 percent in May from 3.3 percent in April; FLW, 4.6 percent from -1.3 percent; and miscellaneous items, 0.7 percent from 0.6 percent. The annual increase in clothing index however eased to 0.7 percent from 0.8 percent; H&R, 2.5 percent from 2.6 percent; and services, 8.2 percent from 8.4 percent.

  • Annual growth in food alone index in NCR was higher at 3.4 percent in May from 3.3 percent in April.

  • Annual upward adjustment was higher in rice index at 2.2 percent in May from -0.4 percent in April; cereal preparations, 3.4 percent from 3.2 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 6.7 percent from 6.0 percent. On the contrary, a slower annual uptick was noticed in eggs index at 1.8 percent from 1.9 percent; fish, 3.5 percent from 3.6 percent; fruits and vegetables, 2.5 percent from 5.2 percent; and meat, 0.3 percent from 0.9 percent. The annual inflation for dairy products index remained at 3.0 percent while the corn index recorded a negative rate of -1.2 percent from -0.7 percent.

• In AONCR, a higher annual add-on was recorded in clothing index at 2.6 percent in May from 2.4 percent in April; FLW, 10.9 percent from 10.5 percent; services, 5.5 percent from 5.3 percent; and miscellaneous items, 1.5 percent from 1.4 percent. On the other hand, inflation in the heavily weighted FBT index improved to 4.4 percent from 4.5 percent and H&R, 1.9 percent from 2.0 percent.

  • Annual gain in food alone index in AONCR further slipped to 4.5 percent in May from 4.6 percent in April.

  • A slower annual movement was noted in fish index at 6.6 percent in May from 6.7 percent in April; fruits and vegetables, 6.8 percent from 9.8 percent; and miscellaneous foods, 6.9 percent from 7.2 percent.

  • A higher annual growth was recorded in the rice index at 2.1 percent in May from 1.5 percent in April. Twelve regions posted higher annual increases with the highest annual rate still seen in Western Visayas at 4.1 percent. The biggest uptick of 1.5 percentage points was observed in SOCCSKSARGEN (3.6% from 2.1%) and ARMM (3.1% from 1.6%).

  • Annual adjustment in corn index was still higher at 7.0 percent from 5.6 percent; cereal preparations, 5.8 percent from 5.3 percent; dairy products, 2.3 percent from 2.0 percent; eggs, 2.9 percent from 2.8 percent; and meat, 1.3 percent from 1.1 percent.

By Region, Month-on-Month

By Commodity Group, Month-on-Month

• Prices of consumer items at the national level generally remained stable as it recorded a zero growth in May from 0.6 percent in April. A zero growth was noted in the H&R and services index from their respective last month’s rates of 0.3 percent and 1.0 percent. Moreover, adjustment in FLW index dropped by -0.4 percent from 3.7 percent. A slower gain was also observed in clothing index at 0.2 percent from 0.3 percent while the miscellaneous items index moved at its April rate of 0.2 percent. On the other hand, increment in the FBT index was at 0.1 percent from -0.1 percent.

  • With eleven regions recording positive growths, the index for rice in the Philippines and AONCR correspondingly advanced by 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent from 0.3 percent. Among the regions in AONCR, the highest monthly rate of price increment in rice was still posted in SOCCSKSARGEN at 1.3 percent. The rice index in NCR likewise gained 1.2 percent from zero growth.

  • The demand for meat increased as consumers had additional purchases for traditional “fiesta” celebrations during the month. This factor pushed up prices of fresh beef, pork, chicken and uncanned meat in the markets. Thus, the index for meat in the Philippines rose by 0.4 percent and in AONCR, 0.6 percent. On the other hand, the meat index in NCR dropped by -0.1 percent as sufficient supply of chicken brought down its prices in the markets.

  • Coffee, cocoa and meals eaten outside the home were priced higher in NCR. This raised the miscellaneous foods index in the area by 0.9 percent and in the Philippines, 0.2 percent. Lower prices of sugar in some regions however pushed down the miscellaneous foods index in AONCR by -0.1 percent.

  • Downward price movements in fruits and vegetables were still observed in many regions. Thus, the group’s index in the Philippines dropped by -1.1 percent and AONCR, -1.6 percent. Meanwhile, inflow of vegetables coming from the production areas declined in the NCR markets as an aftermath of typhoon “Bebeng”. Hence, prices of vegetables in the markets went up during the month. This factor resulted to the 1.0 percent growth in the fruits and vegetables index in the area from a decline of -2.6 percent last month.

  • Supply of marine and aquaculture fish species remained sufficient during the month. Thus, the index for fish dropped by -0.4 percent in the Philippines; -1.3 percent in NCR; and -0.3 percent in AONCR.

• The upward price adjustment of LPG in most of the regions primarily raised the FLW index in AONCR by 1.0 percent. Meanwhile, the FLW index in NCR went down by -3.1 percent due to lower charges in electricity rates and price decreases in kerosene. The FLW index in the Philippines also declined by -0.4 percent from 3.7 percent.

• Prices of selected items for household operations and personal care and effects went up in May. Selected items in household furnishings and equipment were also priced higher during the month. Thus, the miscellaneous items index in the Philippines and AONCR grew by 0.2 percent and in NCR, 0.1 percent.

• The H&R index in AONCR inched up by 0.1 percent due to the price increments in selected construction materials. The downward price adjustments in selected construction materials such as cement, gravel and sand in NCR however pushed down its group’s index by -0.1 percent from 0.3 percent. Hence, the national index had a zero growth from 0.3 percent.

• The -0.5 percent drop in the services index in NCR was brought about by the reductions in the prices of gasoline and diesel. On the contrary, the services index in AONCR went up by 0.3 percent. This was effected by the price gains of selected school supplies and higher charges for personal services in some provinces. Increased salary for household help in selected provinces was also observed. These mixed price trends in the regions resulted to a zero growth in the national index from 1.0 percent in April.

Source: National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines

Page last updated: June 7, 2011