Guimaras’ Inflation for Low Earners Drops to 1.3%

Inflation for low-income households in Guimaras fell to 1.3% in February 2025, down from 4.2% in January, bringing the provincial average inflation for January to February 2025 to 2.7%, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

“The decline in inflation for low-income households in February was primarily influenced by the slower year-on-year price increase of food and non-alcoholic beverages, which dropped to 1.5% from 4.2% in January,” said Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare.

She added that transport costs, which saw an annual price change of -0.7% in February from 2.0% in January, and housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, which decreased to 2.2% from 3.0%, also contributed to the decline.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages accounted for 87.8% of the downward trend, while transport and housing-related expenses contributed 4.7% and 3.2%, respectively.

“From January to February 2025, the slowdown in price increases was driven by key commodities, including rice, which recorded 5.2% inflation, down from 16.6%; passenger transport by sea and inland waterway, which dropped to -11.2% from 42.4%; and electricity, which saw a decline to 4.8% from 7.8%,” Losare said.

Other sectors with slower inflation in February included:

• Restaurants and accommodation services: -8.2%, down from -5.9% in January.
• Personal care and miscellaneous goods and services: 1.6%, down from 2.4%.
• Recreation, sports, and culture: 1.2%, down from 4.4%.
• Furnishings: 1.2%, down from 1.3%.

Meanwhile, the following sectors saw faster inflation:

• Alcoholic beverages and tobacco: 4.2%, up from 3.9%.
• Clothing and footwear: 1.5%, up from 1.4%.

Inflation rates for health (2.2%), information and communication (5.5%), education services (0.0%), and financial services (0.0%) remained unchanged.

In February, the biggest contributor to the lower inflation rate was food and non-alcoholic beverages, accounting for 71.0% of the province’s inflation rate or 0.92 percentage points, primarily due to a 5.2% decrease in rice prices.

Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels contributed 19.8% or 0.26 percentage points, driven by electricity price reductions across coal, solar, and hydro sources.

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco accounted for 12.3% or 0.16 percentage points, with spirits and liquor prices showing 5.9% inflation.

Guimaras recorded the sharpest decline in low-income household inflation among Western Visayas provinces and highly urbanized cities (HUCs), falling to 1.3% in February from 4.2% in January.

Antique followed closely, where inflation plunged to -1.0% from 2.3%. Iloilo (4.1%), Aklan (1.4%), and Negros Occidental (1.7%) also recorded declines, though less pronounced. Meanwhile, Capiz (3.9%) showed an upward trend.

Among highly urbanized cities (HUCs), Iloilo City saw a sharp decline to 3.9% from 5.4%, while Bacolod City’s inflation rose slightly to 3.4% from 3.2%.

“The inflation rate measures the rate of change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), comparing price indices to the same period in the previous year or month,” Losare explained.

Guimaras posted a 135.2 CPI, meaning a typical low-income Guimarasnon needed PHP1,352 in February 2025 to buy a basket of goods and services worth PHP1,000 in 2018.