GUIMARAS – This island province registered anew a negative inflation rate of 0.1 percent in October 2025, bringing the province’s average inflation to 0.4 percent for January to October this year.
The sustained negative growth in four months, or from July to October, indicates that on average, prices of goods and services remained lower compared to the same month in 2024 with 3.6 percent inflation.
“The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Guimaras for October 2025 was recorded at 131.5. The CPI measures the average change in the prices of goods and services commonly purchased by households over time,” Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare said.
Losare added: “This implies that a typical Guimarasnon household needs ₱1,315 in October 2025 to purchase the same basket of goods and services worth ₱1,000.00 in 2018. The stability of the CPI from the previous month reflects the unchanged overall inflation rate of the province.”
The slight improvement in the overall inflation of Guimaras in October was primarily influenced by the faster annual increment in the indices of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at -2.6 percent during the month, from -5.4 percent in September 2025. The faster annual price change in clothing and footwear at 3.0 percent in October from 2.6 percent in the previous month and the alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 7.8 percent from 7.7 percent a month ago also contributed to the a bit quicker overall inflation.
Moreover, faster annual increases were also noted in the indices of health with 3.6 percent from 3.5 percent, and recreation, sport and culture, 0.5 percent from 0.4 percent.
In contrast, four of the 13 commodity groups recorded slower inflation rates in October against September: Food and non-alcoholic beverages, -2.5 percent from -2.0 percent; Transport 4.9 percent from 5.3 percent; Information and communication, 0.0 percent from 0.9 percent; and Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 1.3 percent from 1.4 percent.
While the other four commodities retained their previous month’s inflation rate (furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance: 0.2 percent, education services: 0.8 percent, restaurants and accommodation services: 10.4 percent and financial services; 0.0 percent).
The top three commodity groups that mainly contributed to the province’s overall inflation in October were food and non-alcoholic beverages, contributing 1,354.7 percent or 1.35 percentage points; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, contributing 403.1 percent or 0.40 percentage point; and education services, contributing 10.2 percent or 0.01 percentage point.
Western Visayas, meanwhile, posted a slight uptick in inflation to 0.7 percent in October, rising from 0.2 percent in September. Despite the modest increase, the figure remains significantly lower than the 4.1 percent inflation recorded in October 2024, indicating that price pressures across the region have continued to ease over the past year.
Overall, Guimaras’ consistent negative inflation mirrors the region’s gradual and steady price adjustments, in line with the overall regional trend of easing inflationary pressures.
The Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) in Guimaras was recorded at ₱0.76 in October 2025.
“This means that the value of ₱1.00 in 2018 is equivalent to only ₱0.76 in October 2025,” Losare said./PN
