Guimaras inflation dips to –1.3% for low-income families

The inflation rate for the bottom 30 percent income households in Guimaras fell to –1.3 percent in September 2025, down from –0.8 percent in August, bringing the year-to-date average to 0.3 percent.

This was significantly lower than the 6.0 percent inflation rate recorded in September 2024 for the same income group.

“The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the bottom 30 percent income households in Guimaras was recorded at 133.5 in September 2025,” said Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare.

“This means that a typical low-income Guimarasnon household needed PHP 1,335 in September 2025 to buy the same basket of goods and services worth PHP 1,000 in 2018,” Losare explained.

The decline was mainly driven by a sharper drop in the prices of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, which posted an annual rate of –7.5 percent in September, compared to –3.8 percent in August.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages also saw a steeper deflation of –3.1 percent from –2.8 percent the previous month, while personal care and miscellaneous goods and services slowed to 0.5 percent from 1.4 percent.

Other commodity groups with lower annual rates in September versus August included alcoholic beverages and tobacco (9.9% from 10.3%), furnishings and household maintenance (0.5% from 0.9%), and recreation, sport and culture (0.5% from 1.3%).

However, higher annual inflation was recorded in clothing and footwear (1.3% from 0.7%), health (4.3% from 3.9%), and transport (5.4% from 2.9%).

The annual rates for information and communication (2.0%), education services (0.8%), restaurant and accommodation services (10.5%), and financial services (0.0%) remained unchanged from August.

The top contributors to overall inflation for low-income households in Guimaras in September were food and non-alcoholic beverages, which contributed 1.88 percentage points with a 144.6 percent weight, followed by housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 0.84 percentage point from a 64.5 percent weight.

Education services also contributed a minor share of 0.01 percentage point with a 0.4 percent weight.

At the regional level, inflation for low-income households in Western Visayas improved slightly to –2.3 percent in September 2025 from –2.6 percent in August, although it remained well below the 4.4 percent posted in September 2024.

In Guimaras, the September 2025 inflation of –1.3 percent confirmed a continued slowdown from –0.8 percent the previous month and a steep drop from 6.0 percent in the same month last year.

Among Western Visayas provinces, Guimaras posted one of the milder rates of decline in September, compared to Antique (–4.4%) and Aklan (–2.1%).

Based on a 13-month trend, Guimaras has seen a steady deceleration in inflation for its low-income households—from a peak of 6.0 percent in September 2024 to negative levels starting March 2025.

This sustained decline reflects a broader regional trend influenced by slower price increases in both food and non-food commodities.