Leyte’s inflation rate remains at 1.1 percent in January 2025

Leyte’s inflation rate remained at 1.1 percent in January 2025. In comparison, the inflation rate was higher at 3.3 percent in January 2024. Likewise, the region’s inflation rate held steady at 1.3 percent in January 2025. Among the provinces and highly urbanized city (HUC) in the region, Eastern Samar, Southern Leyte, and Tacloban recorded an increase in their respective inflation rates in January 2025. On the other hand, Northern Samar, Western Samar, and Biliran experienced a decline in their inflation rates during the same period.

The following major commodity groups recorded an increase in their respective inflation rates in January 2025 compared to their previous month:

   a. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 2.9 percent from 1.6 percent, driven by the increase in prices of electricity and a slower rate of decline in the prices of security equipment and materials for the maintenance and repair of the dwelling; and

   b. Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services at 1.2 percent from 1.1 percent, attributed to a 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 and transport recorded deflation rates of -0.4 percent and -0.1 percent, respectively, compared to -0.7 percent and -0.2 percent in the previous month. The slower deflation in clothing and footwear was driven by the slower rate of decline in the prices of garments and shoes and footwear. Meanwhile, the slower deflation in transport was attributed to the increase in the prices of fuels and lubricants for personal transport equipment, as well as the slower rate of decline in the prices of passenger transport by air.

In contrast, the following major commodity groups recorded a decrease in their respective inflation rates in January 2025 compared to their previous month:

   a. Food and non-alcoholic beverages at 0.7 percent from 1.1 percent, driven by the slower rate of increase in the prices of meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals, fruits and nuts, sugar, confectionery and desserts, cocoa drinks, and soft drinks, as well as the decrease in prices of cereals and cereal products;

   b. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 2.1 percent from 2.2 percent, caused by the slower rate of increase in the prices of spirits and liquors and tobacco;

   c. Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance at 0.9 percent from 1.6 percent, driven by the slower rate of increase in the prices of glassware, tableware and household utensils, non-motorized tools and miscellaneous accessories, non-durable household goods, and domestic services and household services, as well as the decrease in the prices of household textiles; and

   d. Recreation, sport and culture at 1.1 percent from 1.5 percent, attributed to the slower rate of increase in the prices of games, toys and hobbies and stationery and drawing materials.

Meanwhile, the five (5) other major commodity groups maintained their inflation rates from their previous month’s rate:

   a. Health at 0.7 percent;
   b. Information and communication at 0.1 percent;
   c. Education services at 12.6 percent;
   d. Restaurants and accommodation services at 0.1 percent; and
   e. 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 January 2025 was 124.9. This implies that the average retail price of goods and services in Leyte is 24.9 percent higher than the average retail prices in 2018 (base year).

Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) declines at 80 centavos in January 2025

The Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) in Leyte declined at 80 centavos in January 2025 from 81 centavos in December 2024. Likewise, the PPP in the region declined at 79 centavos in January 2025 from 80 centavos in December 2024. 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