Headline Inflation  
The region’s headline inflation or overall inflation increased to 3.6 percent in October 2024 from 2.8 percent in September 2024. This brings the national average inflation rate from January to October 2024 to 3.7 percent. In October 2023, the inflation rate was higher at 4.7 percent. 

Main Drivers to the Upward Trend of the Headline Inflation  
The uptrend in the overall inflation in October 2024 was primarily influenced by the faster annual increment in the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 3.8 percent during the month from 2.4 percent in September 2024. Also contributing to the uptrend was Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels with a faster year-on-year increase of 5.6 percent during the month from 4.5 percent annual increase in September 2024. 

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

    a.  Health, 2.3 percent from 2.2 percent; and
    b.  Transport, 1.0 percent from 0.8 percent.

In contrast, the following commodity groups registered lower inflation rates during the month:

    a.    Clothing and footwear, 4.5 percent from 4.6 percent;    
    b.    Information and communication, 1.1 percent from 3.7 percent; 
    c.    Recreation, sport and culture, 5.4 percent from 5.5 percent; 
    d.    Restaurants and accommodation services, 2.3 percent from 2.7 percent; and
    e.    Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 3.5 percent from 3.7 percent.

The indices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco, furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance, education services, and financial services retained their respective previous month’s inflation rates in October 2024.

Main Contributors to the Headline Inflation

The top three commodity groups contributing to the October 2024 overall inflation were the following:

    a.    Food and non-alcoholic beverages with 46.9 percent share or 1.7 percentage points;
    b.    Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels with 28.0 percent share or 1.0 percentage point; and
    c.    Clothing and footwear with 4.2 percent share or 0.2 percentage point.

Food Inflation

Food inflation at the regional level rose to 3.8 percent in October 2024 from 2.3 percent in the previous month. In October 2023, food inflation was higher at 8.3 percent.

Main Drivers to the Upward Trend of Food Inflation

The acceleration of food inflation in October 2024 was primarily brought about by the faster inflation rate of rice at 12.9 percent in October 2024 from 10.9 percent in the previous month. This was followed by fish and other seafood with a year-on-year increase of 0.7 percent during the month from a 2.9 percent annual decrease in September 2024.

Moreover, higher inflation rates during the month were noted in the following food groups:

    a.    Corn, 7.9 percent from 6.8 percent;
    b.    Oils and fats, -1.7 percent from -2.2 percent;
    c.    Fruits and nuts, 4.0 percent from 1.7 percent; and
    d.    Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses, -14.2 percent from -18.6 percent.

On the contrary, lower annual growth rates during the month were observed in the indices of the following food groups: 
    a.    Flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals, 3.8 percent from 4.1 percent;
    b.    Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals, 5.9 percent from 6.1 percent;
    c.    Milk, other dairy products and eggs, 4.0 percent from 4.9 percent;
    d.    Sugar, confectionery and desserts, -7.6 percent from -7.3 percent; and
    e.    Ready-made food and other food products not elsewhere classified, 5.1 percent from 6.0 percent.

Main Contributors to the Food Inflation

Food inflation shared 43.9 percent or 1.6 percentage points to the overall inflation in October 2024. The top three food groups in terms of contribution to the food inflation during the month were the following:

    a.    Cereals and cereal products, which includes rice, corn, flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals, with a share of 89.8 percent or 3.4 percentage points;  
    b.    Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals with a share of 22.1 percent or 0.8 percentage point; and
       c.    Milk, other dairy products and eggs with a share of 7.7 percent or 0.3 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.