Guimaras’ inflation soars to 9-year high of 5.5% in April 2021

Guimaras’ year-on-year inflation or the rate of change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) soared to 5.5% in April 2021, the fastest rate of change since 2013.

CPI or inflation measures the average change in prices over time that consumers pay for a basket of goods and services.

The spike was due to price hikes in Transport and Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco at 32.0% and 12.5% respectively, based on the result of the Survey on Retail Prices of Commodities generated by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The results of the Retail Prices Survey (RPS) of the PSA generated a CPI of 128.4 for the month of April 2021, which means that an average Guimarasnon household needs PHP28.4 more in April 2021 to buy a basket of goods worth PHP100 in 2012.

April inflation in Guimaras for nine consecutive years (2013-2021) moved erratically – from 1.9% in 2013, it rose to 2.6% in 2014 then slowed in 2015 to -0.7%, the slowest rate ever in 9 years.

“From then, Guimaras’ inflation consistently climbed until 2018 to 2.9, 3.2, and 4.5%, respectively, before decelerating to 2.6% in 2019,” Provincial Statistics Officer (PSO) Nelida B. Losare said.

Fast movement was seen in the year 2020 after a slower rate of 1.9 percentage points recorded in 2019 before jumping to 5.5% in 2021.

“Transport and Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco were the two heavily weighted food and non-food commodities which pushed the April 2021 inflation to 5.5% with an increment of 2.7 percentage points from its previous year’s rate of 2.8%’’, Losare said

The 71.4% price hike in transportation services fueled the 32.0% inflation in the Transport Commodity group in April 2021.

“The 16.0% price increment on alcoholic beverages pushed the commodity of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco to 12.5%,” Losare said.

Other heavily weighted commodities such as Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (10.5%); Education (5.1%); Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House (4.4%); and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other Fuels (4.0%) also pushed up the April 2021 inflation.

High prices of Catering Services (13.2%); and Personal Care (7.9%) pushed the inflation rate of Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services to 10.5%.

The 5.1% increment on Education was mainly due to the 8.0% price increase on the Secondary Education fees.

The 4.4 % price growth on Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House was largely driven by the faster price changes on Household Appliances (32.3%); and Glassware, Tableware and Household Utensils (15.9%)

“The 4.0% swell in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other Fuels was due to price increments in Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels posted at 22.6%; and Maintenance and Repair of the Dwelling at 1.5%,” Losare added.

Other commodity items that contributed to the faster rate of change in prices were Clothing and Footwear (3.6%); Health (1.2%); and Communication (0.1%)

Only Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages; and Recreation and Culture showed a slower price changes in April at -0.5 and -2.2%, respectively.