GUIMARAS started 2026 with a negative inflation rate of –0.6 percent in January, higher than the –1.3 percent recorded in December 2025, but significantly lower than the 2.7 percent posted in January 2025, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare said the island province’s January inflation rate is lower than the regional and national inflation rates.
“Inflation rates at the national and regional levels remained positive, with the Philippines at 2.0 percent and Western Visayas at 2.3 percent in January 2026,” Losare said.
She added that the uptrend in the overall inflation in January was primarily influenced by the faster annual increment in the indices of transport at 4.7 percent during the month, from 0.8 percent in December 2025, posting a 35.1 percent share to the uptrend.
The faster annual price change of food and non-alcoholic beverages at -4.2 percent last month from -4.5 percent in the previous month and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at -0.4 percent from -1.0 percent a month ago also contributed to the quicker overall inflation.
Losare further discussed that housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels commodity group also shared in the increasing trend, driven by electricity, which recorded –3.2 percent inflation, particularly electricity from all sources (coal, solar, hydro, among others).
Moreover, faster annual increases were observed in January 2026 compared with December 2025 in the indices of restaurants and accommodation services at 11.9 percent from 10.4 percent, health at 6.2 percent from 4.0 percent, clothing and footwear at 2.2 percent from 0.9 percent, personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services at 1.5 percent from 0.9 percent, information and communication at 1.2 percent from 0.0 percent, furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance at 0.5 percent from 0.1 percent, and recreation, sport and culture at 0.7 percent from 0.5 percent.
In contrast, only alcoholic beverages and tobacco recorded slower inflation rates in Janauary 2026 at 5.4 percent from 6.3 percent in December 2025.
Losare also shared the top three commodity groups that mainly contributed to the province’s overall inflation in January 2026.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages, with 333.1 percent or 2.00 percentage points contribution to the province’s overall inflation rate, and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, with 9.1 percent or 0.05 percentage point impact on the overall inflation of Guimaras.
Meanwhile, Losare said the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Guimaras for January 2026 was recorded at 133.8.
“This implies that a typical Guimarasnon household needs P1,338 in January 2026 to purchase the same basket of goods and services worth P1,000.00 in 2018. The stability of the CPI from the previous month reflects the unchanged overall inflation rate of the province,” she added.
The Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) in Guimaras was recorded at P0.75 in January 2026.
“This means that the value of P1.00 in 2018 is equivalent to only P0.75 in January 2026,” Losare said./PN
