NCR retail price growth steady at 6% in December

MANILA, Philippines — Retail prices of goods in Metro Manila sustained its pace of growth in December from the previous month, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Data released by the PSA yesterday showed the year-on-year growth of the General Retail Price Index (GRPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) remained at six percent for the third consecutive month last December.

Compared to the 2.1 percent uptick in December 2021, the GRPI in NCR posted a faster growth rate.

The PSA said three commodity groups retained their November growth rates in December. These are chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats at 3.5 percent; machinery and transport equipment at 1.1 percent; and miscellaneous manufactured articles at 1.5 percent.

Meanwhile, food items were among those which posted faster increases in December at 9.9 percent from 9.7 percent in November.

The crude materials, inedible except fuels commodity group, also saw a higher mark-up at 4.7 percent in December from 4.3 percent in November.

Meanwhile, slower increases were observed in December in the following: beverages and tobacco; mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials; and manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials.

For full year 2022, the average growth of GRPI in NCR was at 4.5 percent, up from two percent in 2021.

Commodity groups that had higher year-on-year average growth rates in 2022 are food; crude materials, inedible except fuels; mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials; chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats; manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials; machinery and transport equipment; and miscellaneous manufactured articles.

For beverages and tobacco, the annual average eased last year from 2021.

The GRPI tracks the changes in the selling prices of retailers to consumers relative to a base year. As such, it is used to monitor the economic situation of the retail trade sector.

In addition, it is used as a deflator of the national accounts on the retail trade sector, and for forecasting business.