Guimaras low-income inflation climbs to 5.7% in June

Inflation among households in Guimaras’ bottom 30% income group accelerated to 5.7% in June 2026 from 4.7% in May as food and selected service prices increased, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.

The provincial rate remained below the 8.1% recorded in Western Visayas and the national rate of 8%.

Guimaras’ year-to-date inflation average for low-income households stood at 1.8%.

Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare said the acceleration was driven mainly by continued increases in the prices of food and services commonly purchased by low-income households.

Food and nonalcoholic beverages accounted for 89.3% of the increase in the June inflation rate from the previous month.

Rice was the largest driver within the commodity group, accounting for 52.2% of the inflation trend.

Regular-milled rice alone accounted for 51.4% of the movement.

Fish and other seafood contributed 30.6% to the inflation trend.

Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas, and pulses contributed 5%.

Restaurants and accommodation services ranked second among the drivers of the June inflation trend, accounting for 3.6% of the increase.

“The upward movement was driven by Food and Beverage Serving Services, particularly restaurants, cafés and similar full-service establishments,” Losare said.

“Education Services ranked third, contributing 2.0 percent to the June inflation trend, mainly due to the increase in Secondary Education costs during the month,” Losare added.

Several commodity groups recorded faster annual price increases in June compared with May.

Inflation in clothing and footwear accelerated to 2.8% from 2.1%, while alcoholic beverages and tobacco increased to 7.1% from 6.6%.

Furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance posted a higher inflation rate of 2.9%, up from 2.3%.

Personal care and miscellaneous goods and services rose to 9.1% from 8.9%.

Four commodity groups posted slower inflation rates during the month.

Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels recorded deflation of 0.3%, compared with zero inflation in May.

Health inflation slowed to 2.8% from 4.9%. Transport inflation eased to 23.3% from 25.7%.

Inflation in recreation, sports, and culture decreased to 3.1% from 3.3%.

Information and communication was the only commodity group that maintained its previous month’s annual inflation rate, remaining at 2.4%.

Food and nonalcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to the province’s overall 5.7% inflation rate for low-income households.

The commodity group accounted for 57% of overall inflation, equivalent to 3.25 percentage points.

The food index alone contributed 54.9%, or 3.13 percentage points.

Rice was the largest food contributor, accounting for 25.1% of overall inflation, or 1.43 percentage points.

Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas, and pulses followed with a 19.6% contribution, equivalent to 1.12 percentage points.

Fish and other seafood accounted for 19.4%, or 1.11 percentage points.

Transport remained the second-largest contributor to overall inflation despite its slower annual price increase.

The commodity group accounted for 24.3% of inflation, equivalent to 1.38 percentage points.

The PSA said transport continued to exert substantial upward pressure because of its relatively large weight in the consumer basket, even as its inflation rate eased to 23.3% in June from 25.7% in May.

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco ranked third, accounting for 8% of overall inflation, or 0.45 percentage point.

Personal care and miscellaneous goods and services contributed 5%, equivalent to 0.29 percentage point.

Restaurants and accommodation services contributed 1.8% to overall inflation, or 0.10 percentage point.

Clothing and footwear accounted for 1.3%, equivalent to 0.07 percentage point.

Furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance contributed 1.1%, also equivalent to 0.07 percentage point.

Health and information and communication each accounted for 0.7% of inflation, equivalent to 0.04 percentage point apiece.

Recreation, sports, and culture contributed 0.4%, or 0.02 percentage point.

Education services accounted for 0.3%, also equivalent to 0.02 percentage point.

The 5.7% inflation experienced by low-income households was 0.6 percentage point higher than Guimaras’ 5.1% inflation rate for households across all income groups in June.

The province’s all-income inflation rate had also increased from 4.7% in May.

Inflation is measured through the Consumer Price Index, which tracks changes in the average prices of a fixed basket of goods and services commonly purchased by households.

The CPI for Guimaras’ bottom 30% income group reached 141.2 in June 2026.

The index means that goods and services worth PHP 1,000 in the 2018 base year would have cost about PHP 1,412 in June 2026.