Rice, veggies, milk push up inflation for low-income Guimaras residents to 5.4% in August 2023

Higher price changes in rice, vegetables, and milk items pushed the inflation rate for low-income households (HHs) in Gumaras Province to 5.4 percent in August, up by 3.2 percentage points from 2.2 percent in July 2023, based on the latest price statistics released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

“Rice with 7.0 percent inflation; Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses with 30.4 percent inflation; and Milk, other dairy products, and eggs with 12.5 percent inflation. These items contributed 38.7, 27.6 and 10.2 percent, respectively to the speedy inflation of Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Commodity groups,” Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare said.

Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages commodity was the main driver of the 5.4 percent inflation for the bottom 30% income HHs, which shared 80.7 percent, followed by Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco with 11.6 percent inflation and chipped in 8.0 percent and the Restaurants and Accommodation Services with 11.4 percent inflation and contributed 7.2 percent.

Other commodities that significantly contributed to the food inflation in August 2023 were Ready-made food and other products N.E.C. with 18.4 inflation; Flour, Bread, and Other Bakery Products, Pasta Products, and Other Cereals with 7.0 inflation; and Oils and Fats with 24.5 inflation; chipping in 6.9, 6.6 and 4.9 percent to the annual food price trends.

“On the other hand, Non-Alcoholic Beverages showed a price increment having 4.6 percent inflation in August 2023 from the 3.5 percent in the previous month,” Losare said. 

Aside from the top 3 commodities with high contributions, Housing, Water, electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels with 3.3% inflation, and Personal Care and Miscellaneous Goods and Services with 11.3% inflation contributed 6.9 and 5.8 percent, respectively, to the overall inflation of the bottom 30% income HHs in Guimaras in August 2023.

Other non-food commodities that contributed less than or equal to 1.0 percent were Furnishings, Household Equipment, and Routine Household Maintenance (1.0%); Recreation, Sport, and Culture (0.6%); Clothing and Footwear (0.5%); and Information and Communication (0.4%).

“Health with –0.4 percent inflation, Transport with –10.2 percent inflation, and Education Services with –13.6 percent inflation had the least contribution of –0.1, -9.3, and -1.6 percent, respectively, while Financial Services had zero contribution,” Losare said.

Inflation Rate is the rate of change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) derived by computing the indices of goods and services relative to the same period in the previous year or month. 

“The CPI of 127.1 indicates that a low-income household in Guimaras needs 1,271 pesos in August 2023 to purchase a basket of goods and services worth 1,000 pesos in 2018,” Losare clarified.

Based on the relative poverty concept, households whose per capita income falls below the bottom 30 percent of the cumulative per capita distribution belong to the low-income group.

“The inflation rate for the bottom 30 percent income households, who are the most vulnerable to economic and social difficulties, was computed to monitor their welfare,” Losare said.