Guimaras posts –1.3% inflation in November 2025

Guimaras recorded a deeper negative inflation rate of –1.3% in November 2025, further declining from –0.1% in October and significantly lower than the 2.5% posted in the same month last year.

The sustained deflation indicates that prices of goods and services in the province remained lower year-over-year (YOY), bringing Guimaras’ average inflation from January to November 2025 to 2.3%.

“The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Guimaras for November 2025 was recorded at 130.7,” said Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare.

“The CPI measures the average change in the prices of goods and services commonly purchased by households over time. This implies that a typical Guimarasnon household needed PHP 1,307 in November 2025 to purchase the same basket of goods worth PHP 1,000 in 2018,” she added.

Losare said the stability in the CPI from the previous month reflects the province’s unchanged inflation rate.

The downtrend in November was mainly driven by the continued decline in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, which posted –4.9% inflation—slightly higher than –5.2% in October—and contributed 98.9% to the overall deflation.

“The slowdown in food inflation was due largely to lower prices of cereals and cereal products, particularly rice, which posted –19.2% inflation,” Losare said.

Transport also contributed to the downward trend, posting a 4.7% inflation rate in November, down from 4.9% in October. It accounted for 1.1% of the total inflation movement.

Meanwhile, upward pressure was observed in the following commodity groups:

• Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, up to 8.0% from 7.8%;
• Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, up to –1.9% from –2.6%; and
• Health, up to 3.7% from 3.6%.

Eight other commodity groups retained their October inflation rates:

• Clothing and footwear: 3.0%;
• Furnishings, household equipment, and routine maintenance: 0.2%;
• Information and communication: 0.0%;
• Recreation, sport and culture: 0.5%;
• Education services: 0.8%;
• Restaurants and accommodation services: 10.4%;
• Financial services: 0.0%; and
• Personal care and miscellaneous goods and services: 1.3%.

The top contributors to Guimaras’ overall inflation in November 2025 were:

1. Food and non-alcoholic beverages – 201.4% contribution or –2.62 percentage points;
2. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels – 22.2% or –0.29 percentage point; and
3. Education services – 0.8% or –0.01 percentage point.

“Under food and non-alcoholic beverages, the decline in rice prices was the major contributor to negative inflation,” Losare said.

She added that the slower inflation for housing, utilities, and fuels was mainly due to reduced electricity rates across various energy sources, including coal, solar, and hydro.

At the regional level, Western Visayas posted a 1.0% inflation rate in November 2025, slightly higher than October’s 0.7% but still far below the 3.4% recorded in November 2024.

Most provinces in the region saw positive inflation in November, except Antique with –0.2% and Guimaras with –1.3%. All provinces, except Guimaras, recorded an increasing trend from the previous month.

Guimaras had the lowest provincial inflation rate in November, followed by Antique. Iloilo province posted consistent positive inflation between 0.2% and 5.4%, while Iloilo City registered 2.3%.

Guimaras recorded negative inflation for five straight months, from July to November 2025.

The Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) in Guimaras was at PHP 0.77 in November 2025.

“This means that PHP 1.00 in 2018 is equivalent to only PHP 0.77 in November 2025,” Losare said.

She noted that the province’s PPP ranged from PHP 0.74 to PHP 0.77 from January to November, with the lowest in January and the highest in November.

Earlier peaks of PHP 0.76 were noted in April, July, September, and October 2025.