Inflation rate for low-income Guimaras households drops to -2.7%

The inflation rate for low-income households in Guimaras fell further to -2.7% in November 2025, down from -1.3% in October, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

This marks a significant drop from the 3.9% rate recorded in the same month last year and brings the province’s year-to-date inflation for this income group to -0.1%.

“The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the bottom 30% income households in Guimaras was recorded at 131.0 in November 2025,” said Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare.

“This means that a typical low-income Guimarasnon household needed PHP 1,310 in November 2025 to purchase the same basket of goods and services worth PHP 1,000 in 2018,” Losare added.

The primary driver of the November downtrend was the slower inflation rate for food and nonalcoholic beverages, which dropped to -6.2% from -3.7% in October. This category accounted for 99.3% of the overall inflation movement.

“The slower inflation of food and nonalcoholic beverages was due to the continued decline in the prices of cereals and cereal products, particularly rice, which posted a -20.8% inflation rate,” Losare said.

The second contributing factor was the easing transport inflation, which slipped to 4.7% from 4.9% in October, accounting for 0.7% of the overall inflation rate in November.

In contrast, higher inflation rates were recorded in housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, which rose to -2.6% from -3.6%, and in furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance, which increased to 1.7% from 0.5%.

Meanwhile, several commodity groups maintained their previous month’s annual inflation rates: alcoholic beverages and tobacco (10.0%), clothing and footwear (1.6%), health (3.8%), information and communication (0.0%), recreation, sport and culture (0.5%), education services (-0.8%), restaurants and accommodation services (10.5%), financial services (0.0%), and personal care and miscellaneous goods and services (0.5%).

The top three contributors to overall inflation for low-income households in November were food and nonalcoholic beverages, which accounted for 142.1% or 3.84 percentage points; housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, with 10.6% or 0.29 percentage points; and education services, with 0.2% or 0.01 percentage points.

“Under food and nonalcoholic beverages, the decline in rice prices was identified as the main contributor to the group’s overall negative inflation,” Losare said.

“Meanwhile, the slowdown in housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels was primarily due to lower electricity rates from various energy sources such as coal, solar, and hydro, which helped offset price increases in other commodities,” she added.

Across the region, inflation for low-income households in Western Visayas eased to -0.5% in November from -1.4% in October, continuing its slowdown from 4.1% in November 2024.

Guimaras registered the lowest inflation among Western Visayas provinces in November at -2.7%, followed by Antique (-1.3%), Aklan (-0.5%), and Iloilo (-0.4%).

Capiz posted the only positive provincial inflation rate at 0.2%, while Iloilo City recorded 1.7%.

A 13-month review shows that inflation for low-income households in Guimaras shifted from 3.9% in November 2024 to consistent negative territory beginning in June 2025.

It reached -2.7% in November 2025, reflecting a sharper decline in consumer prices than most other Western Visayas provinces.