Headline Inflation
The region's headline inflation or overall inflation increased to 3.2 percent in January 2025 from 2.4 percent in December 2024. In January 2024, the inflation rate was lower at
3.1 percent.

Main Drivers to the Upward Trend of the Headline Inflation

The uptrend in the overall inflation in January 2025 was primarily influenced by the faster annual increment in the index of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 3.7 percent during the month from 2.9 percent in December 2024. Also contributing to the uptrend was housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels with a faster year-on-year increase of 2.6 percent in January 2025 from 0.7 percent annual increment in the previous month

Faster annual increments were also noted in the indices of the following commodity groups during the month:

  a. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 3.1 percent from 2.5 percent;
  b. Transport, 2.1 percent from 1.7 percent;
  c. Information and communication, 1.6 percent from 0.8 percent; and
  d. Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 3.6 percent from 3.5 percent.

In contrast, the following commodity groups registered lower inflation rates during the month:
  a. Clothing and Footwear, 4.3 percent from 4.4 percent;
  b. Health, 2.5 percent from 2.7 percent; and
  c. Recreation, sport and culture, 5.2 percent from 5.4 percent.

The indices of the rest of the commodity groups retained their respective previous month’s inflation rates in January 2025.

Main Contributors to the Headline Inflation

The top three commodity groups contributing to the January 2025 overall inflation were the following:
  a. Food and non-alcoholic beverages with 53.4 percent share or 1.7 percentage points;
  b. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels with 15.2 percent share or 0.5 percentage point; and
  c. Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services with 4.9 percent share or 0.2 percentage point.

Food Inflation

Food inflation at the regional level rose to 3.6 percent in January 2025 from 2.8 percent in the previous month. In January 2024, food inflation was higher at 5.8 percent.

Main Drivers to the Upward Trend of Food Inflation

The acceleration of food inflation in January 2025 was primarily brought about by the faster inflation rate of vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses at 30.4 percent
during the month from 8.8 percent in December 2024. Also contributed to the uptrend of the food inflation were the faster annual increases in the indices of meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals at 9.5 percent in January 2025 from 8.0 percent in the previous month, and fish and other seafood at 3.7 percent in January 2025 from 2.5 percent in the previous month.

Faster annual growth rates were also noted in the indices of the following food groups during the month:

  a. Corn, 7.7 percent from 6.7 percent;
  b. Flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals, 4.0 percent from 3.6 percent; and
  c. Milk, other dairy products and eggs, 2.7 percent from 2.2 percent.

Moreover, the index of oils and fats had an annual increase of 0.3 percent in January 2025 from a annual decline of 0.3 in the previous month, while the index of sugar, confectionery and desserts showed a slower year-on-year decline of 3.5 percent during the month from a 4.9 percent annual decrease in December 2024.

On the contrary, lower annual growth rates during the month were observed in the indices of the following food groups:
  a. Fruits and nuts, 3.2 percent from 3.9 percent; and
  b. Ready-made food and other food products not elsewhere classified, 5.0 percent from 5.6 percent.

The index of rice recorded a faster annual decline of 6.3 percent during the month from a 1.8 percent annual decrease in the previous month.

Main Contributors to the Food Inflation

Food inflation shared 49.1 percent or 1.6 percentage points to the overall inflation in January 2025. The top three food groups in terms of contribution to the food inflation during
the month were the following:
  a. Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses with a share of 64.8 percent or 2.3 percentage points;
  b. Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals with a share of 41.9 percent or 1.5 percentage points; and
  c. Fish and other seafood with a share of 15.6 percent or 0.6 percentage point.

DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTS

Consumer Price Index - a statistical measure of the change in average retail prices of a fixed basket of goods and services bought by a specific group of consumers in a given area in a
given period of time.

Purchasing Power of the Currency or Peso (PPP) - a measure of the volume of goods and services which the currency can buy at any given period relative to that which it could purchase during the base year. It is computed as the reciprocal of the CPI for the period under review multiplied by 100.

Market Basket - the total number of goods and services in constant amounts and qualities which are samples of the goods and services available in the market and included in the construction of the index. CPI market basket was selected to represent the composite price behavior of all goods and services purchased by consumers. Composition of the 2012 market
basket was determined based on the results of the 2018 update of the 2012 basket. Provinces and selected cities had own market baskets.

Base Year - it identifies the base period with which the index relates. It is a period of time chosen as reference on which a price index is computed. The index for the base year is 100.

Retail Price - the actual price at which retailers sell a commodity on spot or earliest delivery, usually in small quantities for consumption and not for resale. It is confined to transactions on cash basis in the free market and excludes black-market prices and prices of commodities that are on sale as in summer sales, anniversary sales, Christmas sales, etc.

Percent Change - the percent point change expressed as percent of the index of the earliest date.

Inflation Rate - the annual rate of change or the year-on-year change of the CPI. Inflation is interpreted in terms of declining purchasing power of money.

Note to Users:
The monthly Consumer Price Index is computed based on the average retail prices of goods and services collected during the first week and mid-month of the reference month