GUIMARAS – The food inflation in this island province downshifted to 10.6 percent in March 2023, lower by 1.4 percent than the previous month’s rate of 12.0 percent yet higher by 6.2 percentage points than the 4.4 percent in March 2022, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The year-on-year price changes in food item was driven by: Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas, and pulses with 28.6% inflation contributing 46.9% to the inflation trend; Rice with 2.4% inflation shared 30.6%; and Fruits and nuts with 11.6% inflation sharing 10.6 percent to inflation trend.
Based on the Retail Price Survey of Commodities for the Generation of the Consumer Price Index of the PSA, other food items that pulled down food inflation to a slower rate were: meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals with 7.4% inflation chipping in 8.9% share; milk, other dairy products, and eggs with 11.4% inflation sharing 2.3% to inflation trend; and corn with 12.2% inflation sharing 0.7% to food inflation trend.
The data also showed that food inflation trends over 13 months began with a low of 4.4 percent in March 2022, which moved quickly to 5.5 percent in April, after which it consistently moved on an upward trend for the next few months, reaching its highest of 12.1 percent in August 2022.
“There was a slow movement in the food inflation in September 2022 with 9.2 percent, then it speedily moved in the following months, reaching 11.8 percent in December 2022. Additionally, food inflation in Guimaras began at a slower pace of 9.2 percent in 2023,” said Provincial Statistics Officer, Nelida B. Losare.
When looking at the average food inflation rates by province, in March 2023, Aklan had the fastest rate of 13.3 percent, followed by Capiz with 11.9 percent, Negros Occidental with 11.0 percent, and Guimaras with 10.6 percent. On the other hand, Bacolod City had a slower rate of 8.5 percent food inflation.
In March 2023, all five provinces and two Highly Urbanized Cities in Western Visayas experienced faster food inflation when compared to the same month a year ago. Moreover, Aklan and Iloilo City recorded speedy price changes, Aklan rose to 13.3 percent from 2.0 percent and Iloilo City soared to 9.7 percent from 1.8 percent. (PSA/PN)
