Albay

1. Overall Inflation 

The Albay’s inflation rate for the bottom 30% income household increased to 5.9 percent in March 2024 from 4.4 percent in February 2024. This makes the provincial average inflation from January to March 2024 at 5.0 percent. In March 2023, the inflation rate was higher at 7.4 percent. (Figure 1 and Table 1)

1.1 Main Driver to the uptrend of the Headline Inflation

The uptrend in the overall inflation of the bottom 30% income household in March 2024 was primarily brought about by the faster year-on-year increase in the heavily weighted Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverage at 10.2 percent in March 2024 from 8.0 percent in the previous month.  

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

    a. Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels, at -1.0 percent from -4.9 percent; 
    b. Transport, at 2.0 percent from 1.3 percent; 
    c. Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, at 2.4 percent from 2.0 percent; and 
    d. Recreation, Sport and Culture, at 5.9 percent from 4.6 percent.

In contrast, slower annual increase was observed in the indices of the following commodity groups:

    a. Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, at 3.8 percent from 9.7 percent; 
    b. Clothing and Footwear, at 4.3 percent from 4.8 percent; 
    c. Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance, at 3.7 percent from 4.3 percent; and 
    d. Health, at 2.7 percent from 3.3 percent.

The following commodity groups maintained the inflation rate of previous month:

    a. Information and Communication, at 0.4 percent; 
    b. Education Services, at 4.1 percent; 
    c. Restaurant and Accommodation Services, at 3.6 percent; and 
    d. Financial Services, at 0.0 percent.

1.2 Main Contribution to Headline Inflation

The top three commodity groups that contributed to the March 2024 inflation of the bottom 30% income household were the following:

    a. Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages with 87.6 percent share or 5.17 percentage points; 
    b. Restaurants and Accommodation Services with 4.6 percent share or 0.27 percentage points; and 
    c. Transport with 2.1 percent share or 0.12 percentage points.

2. Food Inflation

Food inflation at the provincial level for the bottom 30% income household increased to 10.7 percent in March 2024 from 8.3 percent in the previous month. In March 2023, Food inflation was higher at 8.0 percent.

2.1 Main Driver to the Uptrend of Food Inflation

The acceleration of food inflation in March 2024 was primarily influenced by the higher annual growth of Meat and Other Parts of Slaughtered Land Animals at 5.5 percent during the month from 0.0 percent in February 2024. This was followed by Vegetables, Tubers, Plantains, Cooking Bananas and Pulses with an inflation rate of -1.8 percent in March 2024 from -12.1 percent. Cereals and Cereal products and Sugar, Confectionery and Desserts also showed uptrend in the inflation rate at 30.4 percent from 28.9 percent and -4.0 percent from -4.1 percent, respectively.

In contrast, slower annual increase in the indices of the following food groups were observed:

    a. Milk, Other Dairy Products and Eggs, at 0.8 percent from 1.6 percent; 
    b. Fruits and Nuts, at 0.1 percent from 2.4 percent; and 
    c. Ready-Made Food and Other Food Products N.E.C., at 6.6 percent from 8.2 percent.  

In addition, Fish and Other Seafood recorded an annual decrease of 2.1 percent from annual decrease of 1.2 percent and Oils and Fats recorded annual decrease of 13.3 percent from annual decrease of 11.6 percent.

2.2 Main Contribution to the Food Inflation

Food inflation contributed 86.9 percent or 5.13 percentage points to the overall inflation of the bottom 30% income household in March 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 97.3 percent share or 10.41 percentage points; 
    b. Meat and Other Parts of Slaughtered Land Animals, with 6.5 percent share or  0.70 percentage points; and 
    c. Ready-Made Food and Other Food Products n.e.c., with 2.1 percent share or 0.22 percentage points