Aklan inflation dips -1.4% in August, boosts peso power

Aklan province recorded a year-on-year inflation rate of -1.4% in August 2025, continuing its deflationary trend for the fifth consecutive month.

This marks a sharp 5.9 percentage point drop from August 2024’s inflation rate of 4.5%, although it represents a 1.3-point increase from the -2.7% posted in July 2025.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), this deflation means that a household spending PHP 500 in August 2024 would need only PHP 492.81 in August 2025 for the same basket of goods, saving PHP 7.19.

Aklan’s inflation remains significantly lower than the national rate of 1.5% and the Western Visayas regional rate of -0.3%, indicating stronger downward price pressure.

Among Western Visayas provinces, only Antique posted a lower inflation rate at -3.2%, while Iloilo City registered the highest at 1.7%.

The data suggests increased purchasing power for residents in Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Guimaras, where goods and services cost less than they did a year ago.

The primary contributor to Aklan’s negative inflation was the decline in food and non-alcoholic beverage prices, which fell by -3.3% in August, compared to -5.9% in July.

This category accounted for 99.1% of the overall inflation figure, highlighting its critical role in the province’s price trend.

Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels also drove deflation, with a -4.1% inflation rate and a 55.8% contribution to the overall decline.

Meanwhile, transport reversed its trend with a 0.9% inflation in August, up from -1.1% in July, while personal care and miscellaneous goods rose from 0.2% to 1.1%.

Additional contributors to the inflation uptick included health (from 0.3% to 0.8%), information and communication (from 0% to 0.5%), and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (from 4.7% to 5.1%).

Sectors showing slower price growth included restaurants and accommodation services (from 5.2% to 4.2%) and housing-related utilities.

Education services (7.4%), financial services (0%), and clothing and footwear (0.4%) remained stable month-to-month.

The purchasing power of the peso in Aklan improved slightly to PHP 0.81 in August 2025 from PHP 0.80 in August 2024, though it dipped from July’s PHP 0.82.

This means that what cost PHP 1,000 in August 2024 could now be bought for PHP 985.61, representing a savings of PHP 14.39.

Food prices, particularly rice, saw substantial decreases, with average rice prices falling from PHP 50.00 per kilo in August 2024 to PHP 36.92 in August 2025.

Households spending PHP 1,000 on food a year ago now only need PHP 962.96 for the same quantity, saving PHP 37.04.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) data shows the steepest year-on-year price drops in cereals (-26.0%), rice (-26.2%), and cereals and cereal products overall (-20.7%).

In contrast, vegetables rose 14.4%, fruits and nuts climbed 13.7%, and tertiary education surged 13.8% compared to the same period last year.