Costly food, non-alcoholic drinks push Guimaras headline inflation to 5.8 % in November

The faster upticks in the prices of Food and non-alcoholic beverages pushed headline inflation in Guimaras to 5.8 percent in November 2023, up from 4.6 percent in October and lower than 8.3 percent in November 2022.

This is based on the latest price statistics released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

“Inflation on Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages was at 9.4 percent, recording a huge share of 51.0 percent in the November headline inflation uptrend. It is followed by Transport with -4.7 percent inflation, and Restaurants and Accommodation Services with 9.1 percent inflation, sharing 19.9 and 19.6 percent, respectively to the overall inflation of Guimaras Province,” Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare said.

The major contributors to the uptrend in Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages inflation in November was Rice, with a 15.4 percent price increase.

Transport’s inflation at –4.8 percent was due to the faster price change of Passenger Transport Services with –3.6 percent inflation, and the quicker inflation in Restaurants and Accommodation Services at 9.1 percent, which was driven by the Restaurants, café, and the like with full service at 9.2 percent price spike.

“In terms of contributions to November headline inflation, the Food, and Non-Alcoholic Beverages still topped the rank with 81.6 percent splits followed by Restaurants and Accommodation Services chipping in 7.8 percent and Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco with 6.8 percent inflation posting a significant cut of 6.8 percent, respectively,” Losare said.

The data also showed that rice significantly contributed 33.9 percent to the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages. It was followed by Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals with 18.0 percent inflation, contributing 17.8 percent, and Fish and other seafood with 8.0 inflation, slicing a 13.4 percent to the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages November inflation.

Losare said that for Restaurants and Accommodation Services, the main contributor was Restaurants, café, and the like – with full service with a cut of 7.6 percent. Moreover, the prices of other Spirits and liquors with 15.2 percent inflation supplied 54.2 percent to the November inflation of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco.

The result of price statistics monitoring also showed that among the 13 commodities, two (2) posted a downtrend inflation from October to November 2023 (Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance, and the Information and Communication). See table 2

Seven (7) posted uptrend inflation: Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages (9.4%); Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (11.3%); Housing Water, Electricity, Gas, and other Fuels (-0.4%); Health (3.9%); Transport (-4.7%); Restaurant and Accommodation Services (9.1%); and Personal Care and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (6.2%). Four (4) posted a constant trend: Clothing and Footwear (1.6%); Recreation, Sports, and Culture (6.9%); Education Services (-7.3%); and Financial Services (0.0%). See table 2

“Inflation Rate is the rate of change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) derived by computing the indices relative to the same period in the previous year or month, and currently, Guimaras Province posted a 129.2 CPI, translating that a typical Guimarasnon household needs 1,292 pesos in November 2023 to purchase a basket of goods and services worth 1000 pesos in 2018,” Losare said.

“The Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) in Guimaras at 0.77 in November 2023 indicates that the one peso in 2018 is now worth 0.77 centavos, representing a 0.05 percentage points depreciation from the PPP value of 0.82 recorded in November 2022,” Losare added.