Albay

Table 1. Year on Year Inflation Rates of the Consumer Price Index for All Income Households in Albay, All Items in Percent (2018=100)

1. The Headline Inflation

The Albay’s headline inflation or overall inflation decreased to 3.3 percent in January 
2024 from 5.5 percent in December 2023. This makes the provincial average inflation 
from for 2024 at 3.3 percent. In January 2023, the inflation rate was higher at 7.6 
percent. (Figure 1 and Table 1)

1.1 Main Driver to the Uptrend of the Headline Inflation

The downtrend in the overall inflation in January 2024 was primarily brought about by 
the faster year-on-year decrease in the heavily weighted Housing, Water, Electricity, 
Gas and Other Fuels at -1.0 percent in January 2024 from 3.8 percent in the previous 
month.  

In addition, slower annual increases were noted in the indices of the following 
commodity groups during the month:

     a. Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, at 5.3 percent from 7.3 percent; 
     b. Transport, at 0.5 percent from 4.1 percent; 
     c. Clothing and Footwear, at 5.7 percent from 8.7 percent; 
     d. Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance, at  3.2 percent from 4.6 percent; 
     e. Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, at 2.8 percent from 3.8  percent. 
     f. Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, at 11.0 percent from 12.3 percent; 
     g. Health, at 2.2 percent from 2.5 percent; and 
     h. Recreation, Sport and Culture, at 3.8 percent from 4.3 percent.

In contrast, faster annual increase were observed in the indices of Information and 
Communication, at 0.2 percent from 0.0 percent and Restaurants and Accommodation 
Services, at 3.6 percent from 3.1 percent  

Education Services and Financial Services maintained the inflation rate of previous 
month at 5.4 percent and 0.0 percent, respectively for January 2024.

1.2 Main Contribution to Headline Inflation

The top three commodity groups that contributed to the January 2024 overall inflation 
were the following:

     a. Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages with 69.6 percent share or 2.30 percentage  points; 
     b. Restaurants and Accommodation Services with 9.7 percent share or 0.32 percentage points; and 
     c. Clothing and Footwear with 6.5 percent share or 0.21 percentage points.

2. Food Inflation

Food inflation at the provincial level decreased to 5.6 percent in January 2024 from 
7.3 percent in the previous month. In January 2023, Food inflation was higher at 9.4 
percent.

2.1 Main Driver to the Uptrend of Food Inflation

The deceleration of food inflation in January 2024 was primarily influenced by the 
annual decrease of Vegetables, Tubers, Plantains, Cooking Bananas and Pulses at -
19.6 percent during the month from -9.2 percent in December 2023. The following food 
groups also showed downtrend inflation for January 2024:

     a. Milk, Other Dairy Products and Eggs, at 3.8 percent from 7.9 percent; 
     b. Meat and Other Parts of Slaughtered Land Animals, at -0.9 percent from 0.6 percent; 
     c. Fish and Other Seafood, at -0.1 percent from 1.3 percent; 
     d. Sugar, Confectionery and Desserts, at -1.8 percent from 3.5 percent; 
     e. Fruits and Nuts, at 3.3 percent from 5.0 percent; and 
     f. Oils and Fats at -7.4 percent from -6.1 percent.

Higher year-on-year growth rates were also noted in the indices of Cereals and Cereal 
Products at 26.7 percent from 23.6 percent and Ready-Made Food and Other Food 
Products N.E.C., at 7.4 percent from 7.1 percent compared to previous month.

2.2 Main Contribution to the Food Inflation

Food inflation contributed 69.6 percent or 2.30 percentage points to the overall inflation 
in January 2024. Food groups with the highest to food inflation during the month were 
the following:

     a. Cereals and Cereal Products, which includes Rice, Corn, Flour, Bread and Other Bakery Products, with 112.8 percent share or 6.32 percentage points; 
     b. Milk, Other Dairy Products and Eggs, with 4.4 percent share or 0.25 percentage points; and 
     c. Ready-Made Food and Other Food Products N.E.C., with 4.1 percent share or  0.23 percentage points.

3. Purchasing Power of Peso

The Purchasing Power of Peso in Albay for January 2024 was maintained at Php 0.76 
comparted to December 2023. Value of peso is still lower compared the value from January 
2023 at Php 0.79. (Refer to Table 2.)