Guimaras Inflation Rises to 0.8% in May 2025

Guimaras’ inflation rate climbed to 0.8 percent in May 2025, up from 0.5 percent in April and 0.2 percent in March, continuing an upward trend into the second quarter, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The increase was mainly driven by rising prices in key non-food commodity groups.

Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare said housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels posted a 3.7 percent annual increase in May, up from 1.5 percent in April.

She added that restaurants and accommodation services rose to 10.4 percent in May from 10.1 percent in April, while furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance increased to 0.1 percent from -0.3 percent.

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels accounted for 91.1 percent of May’s inflation growth.

Restaurants and accommodation services contributed 3.9 percent, while furnishings and household maintenance added 3.5 percent.

Losare said the inflation uptick from April to May was mainly pushed by fast-rising prices in electricity, gas and other fuels, which surged to 10 percent from 4 percent.

Food and beverage services posted a 10.5 percent inflation rate, up from 10.3 percent, and household maintenance goods and services rose to 0.2 percent from -0.2 percent.

Faster price hikes were also seen in clothing and footwear, up to 2.6 percent from 2.5 percent, and in recreation, sport and culture, which rose to 0.7 percent from 0.4 percent.

However, four of 13 commodity groups posted slower inflation in May compared to April.

These were alcoholic beverages and tobacco, down to 7.7 percent from 8.3 percent; transport, down to 1.2 percent from 1.6 percent; information and communication, down to 2.7 percent from 3 percent; and personal care and miscellaneous goods and services, down to 1.1 percent from 1.4 percent.

Four commodity groups posted no change from April: food and nonalcoholic beverages at 1.8 percent, health at 1.4 percent, education services at 0 percent and financial services at 0 percent.

In May, restaurants and accommodation services contributed 69.2 percent to Guimaras’ inflation, equal to 0.55 percentage points, driven largely by a 10.6 percent hike in full-service restaurant prices.

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels contributed 64.1 percent or 0.51 percentage points, with electricity from all sources seeing a 14.8 percent inflation rate.

While inflation across Western Visayas declined, Guimaras maintained a steady slowdown over the past 13 months—from 7 percent in May 2024 to 0.8 percent in May 2025.

In contrast, Aklan and Antique entered deflation, posting -0.7 percent and -1.3 percent, respectively.

Capiz saw a drop from 4.4 percent to 0.9 percent, while Iloilo experienced moderate inflation, easing from 4 to 5 percent in 2024 to 2.8 percent in May 2025.

Losare said the inflation rate reflects the year-over-year change in the consumer price index.

She explained that Guimaras’ 133.3 CPI means a typical household needed PHP1,333 in May 2025 to buy what cost PHP1,000 in 2018.

Losare also noted that the purchasing power of the peso in Guimaras was PHP0.75 in May 2025, meaning one peso in 2018 is now worth 75 centavos.