Guimaras Inflation Drops to 0.2% in March 2025

Guimaras recorded near-zero inflation as the first quarter of 2025 ended, with the province’s headline inflation rate easing to 0.2% in March from 0.6% in February.

This marked a significant drop from 7.2% in March 2024, bringing the average inflation for the first quarter of 2025 down to 1.2%, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

“The downtrend in overall inflation in March 2025 was primarily influenced by the year-on-year price drop in the heavily weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages category, which registered a -0.7% inflation rate from 0.7% in February,” said Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare.

She added that slower annual price changes in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, which dropped to 0.9% from 2.1%, and in personal care and miscellaneous goods and services, which fell to 1.7% from 1.8%, also contributed to the slower inflation.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages accounted for 78.3% of the March inflation downtrend.

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels contributed 21.3%, while personal care and miscellaneous goods and services made up 0.5%.

“The slower inflation in March 2025 was mainly driven by rice prices, which posted -4.5% inflation from 4.9%,” Losare said.

She noted that the decline in inflation for housing, utilities and personal care was mainly due to falling electricity rates from various sources, which saw -2.1% inflation from 4.8%, and jewelry, which recorded zero inflation from 14.3%.

In contrast, five of the 13 commodity groups registered higher inflation in March compared to February:
• Alcoholic beverages and tobacco: 7.9% from 4.8%
• Furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance: 0.2% from -0.1%
• Health: -0.3% from -1.0%
• Transport: -0.1% from -0.8%
• Restaurants and accommodation services: -3.2% from -8.0%

Five other commodity groups retained their previous month’s rates:
• Clothing and footwear: 2.4%
• Information and communication: 3.3%
• Recreation, sport and culture: 1.1%
• Education services: 0.0%
• Financial services: 0.0%

In March 2025, Guimaras’ overall inflation was driven mainly by two commodity groups.

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco had a 206.2% contribution to the province’s inflation rate, or 0.41 percentage points, largely due to a 10.3% increase in spirits and liquors.

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels followed with a 64.8% contribution, or 0.13 percentage points, influenced by wood and bamboo charcoal, which posted a 7.2% inflation rate.

From March 2024 to March 2025, Western Visayas saw a general downward trend in inflation, with most provinces peaking between April and July 2024.

Guimaras had the highest inflation in the region at 7.2% in March 2024.

Antique peaked at 6.7% in April, while Aklan hit 6.4% in July.

By March 2025, significant declines were recorded across all provinces, with Antique entering deflation at -0.1% and Guimaras falling to 0.2%.

Iloilo maintained a relatively stable inflation rate throughout the year, ending at 4.2%.

“The inflation rate is the rate of change in the Consumer Price Index, computed relative to the same period the previous year or month,” Losare explained.

She added that Guimaras posted a 133.2 CPI in March 2025, meaning a typical household needed PHP1,332 to purchase a basket of goods and services worth PHP1,000 in 2018.

“The purchasing power of the peso in Guimaras remained at 0.75 in March 2025, indicating that PHP1 in 2018 is now worth 75 centavos,” Losare said.