Southern Leyte's inflation rate (IR) decelerated to 1.1 percent in February 2025

Southern Leyte's inflation rate (IR) decelerated to 1.1 percent in February 2025 from 2.2 percent in January 2025. Furthermore, the rate was 2.3 percentage points lower than in February 2024. During February 2025, both the regional and provincial levels recorded the same IR of 1.1 percent. 

Overall Inflation

The main driver of the downtrend of the inflation rate in February 2025 was influenced by the lower IR in following commodity groups;

a. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; 0.4 percent in February 2025 from 3.3 percent in January 2025,

b. Food and non-alcoholic beverages; 1.4 percent from 2.1 percent,

c. Transport; -1.6 percent from 1.3 percent,

d. Health; 3.4 percent from 4.1 percent, and

e. Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services; 0.7 percent from 1.0 percent.

In contrast, higher inflation rates were noted in the following commodity groups;

a. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco; 3.6 percent in January 2025 from 4.8 percent in December 2024, and

b. Information and Communication; 2.1 percent from 3.0 percent. 
 

Purchasing Power of the Peso

In February 2025, the Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) of Southern Leyte decrease to 0.81 of its value compared to base year 2018, and 0.01 in February 2024. This means that your Php 100.00 in 2018 would now only be able to buy goods and services worth Php 80.65 at current retail prices. 

Furthermore, the national and regional PPP in February 2025 decreased to 0.78 and 0.79 respectively, compared to the base year 2018. This means that your Php 100.00 in 2018 would now be now only be able to purchase goods and services with a retail price equivalent to Php 78.06 and Php 79.30, respectively. 

CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS

Base Year - it identifies the base period with which the index relates. It is a period chosen as a reference on which a price index is computed. The index for the base year is 100.

Consumer Price Index - a statistical measure of the change in average retail prices of a fixed basket of goods and services bought by a specific group of consumers in agiven area in a given period.

Inflation Rate - the annual rate of change or the year-on-year change of the CPI. Inflation is interpreted in terms of the declining purchasing power of money.

Market Basket - the total number of goods and services in constant amounts and qualities which are samples of the goods and services available in the market and included in the construction of the index. The CPI market basket was selected to represent the composite price behavior of all goods and services purchased by consumers.

Percent Change - the percent point change expressed as a percent of the index of the earliest date.

Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) - a measure of the volume of goods and services which the currency can buy at any given period relative to that which it could purchaseduring the base year. It is computed as the reciprocal of the CPI for the period under review multiplied by 100.

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

For more info, you can contact us through:
Telephone: (053) 862-0105
Email add: southernleyte@psa.gov.ph
Office Address: 2F SJC Building, Tomas Oppus St., Tunga-tunga, Maasin City, Southern Leyte.

SGD. EUTEMIO A. LLEVADO, JR.
Chief Statistical Specialist