Guimaras inflation steady at -0.2% in September

The headline inflation rate in the province of Guimaras remained unchanged at -0.2% in September 2025, marking the third straight month of negative inflation and indicating that, on average, prices were slightly lower than in September 2024 when inflation was 4.7%, bringing the January–September 2025 average to 0.5%.

“The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Guimaras for September 2025 was recorded at 132.4, the CPI measures the average change in the prices of goods and services commonly purchased by households over time,” Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare said.

“This implies that a typical Guimarasnon household needs PHP 1,324 in September 2025 to purchase the same basket of goods and services worth PHP 1,000 in 2018, and the stability of the CPI from the previous month reflects the unchanged overall inflation rate of the province,” she added.

In September 2025, six of 13 major commodity groups posted the same inflation rates as in August 2025.

“These include furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (0.2%), information and communication (0.9%), education services (-0.8%), restaurants and accommodation services (10.4%), financial services (0.0%), and personal care and miscellaneous goods and services (1.4%),“ Losare said.

Meanwhile, three commodity groups recorded higher inflation versus the prior month—food and non-alcoholic beverages (-2.0% from -2.3%), clothing and footwear (2.6% from 2.0%), and transport (5.3% from 2.9%).

Slower inflation was seen in alcoholic beverages and tobacco (7.7% from 7.9%), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (-5.4% from -2.4%), health (3.5% from 4.1%), and recreation, sport and culture (0.4% from 0.8%).

The top three contributors to Guimaras’ overall inflation in September 2025 were food and non-alcoholic beverages, contributing 389% or 0.78 percentage point, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, contributing 301.8% or 0.60 percentage point, and education services, contributing 3.6% or 0.01 percentage point.

“Under Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, the decline in rice prices was identified as the major contributor to the group’s overall negative inflation, while the slowdown in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels was primarily attributed to lower electricity rates from various energy sources such as coal, solar, and hydro, which helped offset price increases in other commodities,” Losare said.

At the regional level, Western Visayas inflation edged up to 0.2% in September 2025 from -0.3% in August but was still lower than 3.3% in September 2024, with most provinces posting low or negative rates—Antique (-2.2%), Aklan (-0.4%), Capiz (0.3%), and Iloilo (0.5%)—while Iloilo City recorded the highest rate at 2.1% and Guimaras’ steady -0.2% aligned with the broader trend.

At the national level, inflation inched up to 1.7% in September 2025 from 1.5% in August 2025.

The Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) in Guimaras was PHP 0.76 in September 2025.

“This means that the value of PHP 1.00 in 2018 is equivalent to only PHP 0.76 in September 2025,” Losare said.

“The PPP in the province fluctuated minimally from PHP 0.74 to PHP 0.76 between January and September 2025,” Losare added.