Inflation for poorest rises by 2.3% in January

MANILA, Philippines — Consumer prices for the country’s poorest households rose by 2.3 percent last January, driven by price hikes in food, housing and utilities as well as transportation, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported yesterday.

Growth in the consumer price index for bottom 30 percent of income households during the month was also faster than the 1.9 percent inflation for the income subgroup in December 2019.

PSA said the uptrend in the index was brought about by the faster annual growth seen in the heavily weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 0.7 percent in January.

Faster annual growth was also seen in the following commodity groups: alcoholic beverages and tobacco; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; transport; communication; recreation and culture as well as education.

Slower growth, on the other hand, was seen in the index of restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services.

The rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month’s annual growth rates.

Inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) for this group of consumers, however, eased to 2.1 percent in January 2020 from 2.9 percent in December 2019.

Slower annual growth rates were seen in the indexes of food and non-alcoholic beverages; clothing and footwear; housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels as well as recreation and culture.

Faster growth, on the other hand, were seen in the indexes of alcoholic beverages and tobacco; communication; restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services as well as transport.

Consumer prices rose faster for the poorest households in Areas Outside NCR (AONCR) in January 2020 at a rate of 2.3 percent from 1.9 percent in December 2019.

Faster growth was seen in the indexes of food and non-alcoholic beverages; alcoholic beverages and tobacco; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; transport; communication; recreation and culture, and education.

On the other hand, slower annual mark-ups were seen in the indexes of furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house as well as  restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services.

Growth in the prices of clothing and footwear as well as healthcare remained the same.

In January, 12 regions in AONCR registered faster growth in inflation for the poorest households in January 2020.