Guimaras inflation for low-income families eases in August

Guimaras inflation for low-income households improved to -0.8 percent in August 2025 from -1.4 percent in July, marking the third consecutive month of deflation and bringing the year-to-date average to 0.6 percent.

This represents a significant decline from the 6.4 percent rate recorded in August 2024, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)–Guimaras.

“The faster movement in August was mainly influenced by quicker annual price changes in food and non-alcoholic beverages, which registered -2.8 percent from -4.2 percent in July,” said Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare.

“The uptrend in this group was largely driven by fish and other seafood, which rose to 7.4 percent in August from 1.4 percent in July, led by higher prices of fish, live, fresh, chilled or frozen,” Losare added.

Transport inflation also increased, rising to 2.9 percent in August from -2.2 percent in July, primarily due to fuels and lubricants for personal transport equipment, which improved to -6.3 percent from -13.1 percent, particularly gasoline.

Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance rose slightly to 0.9 percent from 0.2 percent, driven by a 1.1 percent uptick in non-durable household goods, specifically household cleaning and maintenance products.

Additional upward adjustments were observed in health, which increased to 3.9 percent from 3.0 percent; alcoholic beverages and tobacco, which rose to 10.3 percent from 9.9 percent; recreation, sport and culture, which moved to 1.3 percent from 0.0 percent; and personal care and miscellaneous goods and services, which ticked up to 1.4 percent from 1.3 percent.

In contrast, slower inflation was noted in several commodity groups, including clothing and footwear, which declined to 0.7 percent in August from 1.3 percent in July.

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels fell sharply to -3.8 percent from 1.0 percent, while information and communication eased to 2.0 percent from 4.8 percent.

Some groups retained their previous month’s inflation rates, including education services at -0.8 percent, restaurants and accommodation services at 10.5 percent, and financial services at 0.0 percent.

The top two contributors to overall inflation for the bottom 30 percent income households in August 2025 were food and non-alcoholic beverages, which contributed 1.69 percentage points, and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, which added 0.40 percentage points.

In Western Visayas, inflation for low-income households fell to -2.6 percent in August 2025 from -1.1 percent in July, reversing the 6.5 percent rate recorded in August 2024.

In Guimaras, the -0.8 percent inflation was milder compared with Antique at -4.9 percent, Iloilo at -3.2 percent, and Aklan at -3.1 percent, but lower than Capiz at -0.3 percent and Iloilo City at -0.1 percent.

This placed Guimaras near the middle among Western Visayas provinces in terms of inflation levels for the bottom 30 percent income group.

Over the past 13 months, Guimaras’ inflation for low-income households fluctuated within a narrow range, from a low of 0.2 percent in April 2025 to a high of 6.4 percent in August 2024.

This trend reflects the broader regional slowdown, as Guimaras shifted from positive inflation in late 2024 to mostly negative rates in early 2025, with slight moderation in July and August.

“The inflation rate is the rate of change in the CPI derived by computing the indices relative to the same period in the previous year or month, and currently, Guimaras Province posted a 134.1 CPI, translating that a typical low-income Guimarasnon needs PHP 1,341.00 in August 2025 to purchase a basket of goods and services worth PHP 1,000 in 2018,” Losare clarified.