Leyte’s inflation rate slows down to 0.8 percent in March 2025

Leyte’s inflation rate slowed to 0.8 percent in March 2025, down from 1.5 percent in February 2025. In comparison, the rate was higher at 3.7 percent in March 2024. Similarly, the region’s inflation rate declined to 1.0 percent in March 2025 from 1.1 percent in February 2025. Among the provinces and the highly urbanized city (HUC) in the region, only Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, and Biliran recorded increases in their respective inflation rates for March 2025.

Main Drivers and Top Three Commodity Groups Contributing to the Downward Trend of Leyte’s Inflation

The following commodity groups emerged as the main drivers to the downward trend in the March 2025 inflation rate of Leyte. They also emerged as the major contributors to the overall trend of Leyte during the month-in-review:

    a. Food and non-alcoholic beverages, which accounted for 64.3 percent share, recorded a -0.1 percent deflation from an inflation of 0.9 percent in the previous month. This was driven by the slower rate of increase in the prices of fish and other seafood; milk, other dairy products and eggs; fruits and nuts; sugar, confectionery and desserts; and ready-made food and other food products. The faster rate of decrease in the prices of cereals and cereal products likewise contributed to the deflation;

   b. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, which accounted for 18.0 percent share recorded a 4.3 percent inflation rate, down from 5.0 percent in the previous month. This decrease was driven by the slower rate of increase in the prices of electricity; gas; and the faster rate of decrease in the prices of security equipment and materials for the maintenance and repair of the dwelling; and

     c. Transport, which accounted for 17.7 percent share, recorded a deflation of -2.4 percent from a deflation of -1.0 percent in the previous month. This was attributed to faster rate of decrease in the prices of fuels and lubricants for personal transport equipment.

In contrast, the following major commodity groups recorded an increase in their respective inflation rates in March 2025 compared to the previous month:

   a. Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance at 1.6 percent from 0.9 percent in the previous month, caused by faster rate of increase in the prices of non-motorized tools and miscellaneous accessories; domestic services and household services; furniture, furnishings and loose carpets; and household textiles;

   b. Health at 1.7 percent from 0.7 percent in the previous month, which was driven by the faster rate of increase in the prices of medicines and the slower rate of decrease in the prices of medical products; and

   c. Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services at 1.2 percent, up from 0.8 percent. This increase was attributed to the faster rate of increase in the prices of other appliances, articles and products for personal care, and hairdressing salons and personal grooming establishments.

In addition, clothing and footwear recorded a deflation of -0.2 percent from a deflation of -0.3 percent in the previous month, which was caused by the slower rate of decrease in the prices of garments.

Meanwhile, the six (6) other major commodity groups maintained their inflation rates from their previous month’s rate:

   a. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 1.7 percent;

   b. Information and communication at 0.1 percent;

   c. Recreation, sport and culture at 1.0 percent;

   d. Education services at 12.6 percent;

   e. Restaurants and accommodation services at 0.1 percent; and

   f. Financial services at zero percent.

The inflation rate is the general rise in prices over a period. It indicates how fast or how slow price changes over two-time periods. Contrary to common knowledge, low inflation does not necessarily connote that prices are falling instead; it means that prices continue to increase at a slower rate. It is a derived indicator of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The CPI is a measure of change in the average retail prices of goods and services commonly purchased by a particular group of people in a specific area.  The overall CPI in Leyte for March 2025 was 124.8. This implies that the average retail price of goods and services in Leyte is 24.8 percent higher than the average retail prices in 2018 (base year).

Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) retained at 80 centavos in March 2025

The Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) in Leyte remained at 80 centavos in March 2025. In contrast, the PPP in the region increased at 80 centavos in March 2025 from 79 centavos in the previous month. The 80 centavos purchasing power of peso in Leyte indicates that the same basket of goods and services worth 80 pesos in 2018 (base year) is worth 100 pesos during the reference period.

TECHNICAL NOTES

Rebasing of the CPI is necessary to ensure that this barometer of economic phenomena is truly reflective of current situation. Consumer taste, fashion and technology change over time causing the fixed market basket of goods and services to become outmoded. To capture such changes for a more meaningful price comparison, revision or updating of the fixed market basket, the sample outlets, the weights and the base year had to be done periodically.

BASE PERIOD – refers to the reference period of the index number. It is a period at which the index is set to 100. Current base period is 2018.

COMPUTING THE CPI - The formula used in computing the CPI is the weighted arithmetic mean of price relatives, a variant of the Laspeyres formula with fixed base year period weights.

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX – is a measure of change in the average retail prices of goods and services commonly purchased by a particular group of people in a particular area.

INFLATION RATE – refers to the annual rate of change or year-on-year change in CPI.

MARKET BASKET - refers to a sample of goods and services used to represent all goods and services bought by a particular group of consumers in a particular area.

MONITORING OF PRICES - is to establish baseline information for prices of the items in the base year and monitoring of the prices of the items on a regular basis. Except for Food, Beverage and Tobacco which is monitored on a weekly basis in NCR, price collection is done twice a month. First collection phase is done during the first five days of the month while the second phase is on the 15th to 17th day of the month.

PURCHASING POWER PESO – it is a measure of how much the peso in the base period is worth in another period. It gives as indication of the real value in a given period relative to the peso value in the base period.

RETAIL PRICE - refers to the actual price at which retailers sell a commodity on spot or earliest delivery, usually in small quantities for consumption and not for resale.  It is confined to transactions on cash basis in the free market and excludes black-market prices and prices of commodities that are on sale as in summer sales, anniversary sales, Christmas sales, etc.

WEIGHTS - The weights for the 2018-based CPI were derived from the expenditure data of the 2018 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES). The weight for each item of expenditure is a proportion of that expenditure item to the total national expenditure. The total (all items) national expenditure weights is equal to 100.

SGD. SHERYL ANN A. JAMISOLA

Chief Statistical Specialist