ILOILO City – Inflation in Western Visayas decelerated to 4.2 percent in December 2021, from 4.7 percent in the previous month, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
Inflation refers to a general progressive increase in prices of goods and services. When the general price level rises, money buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduction in the purchasing power of money.
In December 2020, inflation in Western Visayas stood at 3.7 percent.
Negros Occidental registered the highest inflation rate of 6.2 percent in December 2021, while Iloilo had the lowest inflation rate of 2.3 percent.
On the other hand, only Iloilo has registered a higher inflation rate compared to the previous month among the provinces in Region 6.
Downtrend in the inflation in Western Visayas was influenced primarily by the monthly decrease on the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages commodity group index
at 4.7 percent in December 2021 from 5.0 percent in November 2021.
Contributing also to the downtrend in the inflation in Western Visayas were the lower annual increments registered in the indices of the following commodity groups:
* Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, 10.8 percent;
* Clothing and footwear, 2.1 percent;
* Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House, 2.7 percent;
* Health, 2.3; and
* Transport, 7.2.
However, annual rates were higher during the month compared to the previous month in the indices of the following commodity groups:
* Communication, 0.4 percent; and
* Restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services, 2.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the commodity groups Recreation and Culture, and Education retained their previous month’s annual growth rates./PN
