Samar’s inflation rate (IR) increased to 5.5 percent in December 2020. This figure is 1.9 percentage point higher than the 3.6 percent posted in November 2020, and is 3.9 percentage points higher than the 1.6 percent IR in the same month last year. This was the highest IR recorded in the province in the entire year. See Figure 1

     Among provinces, Samar posted the highest inflation rate in December 2020. This was followed by Northern Samar and Southern Leyte at 4.0 and 3.2 percent, respectively. See Figure 2

BY COMMODITY GROUP

     Among the eleven commodity groups, six yielded increases in inflation rate in December 2020. The Transport group generated the highest increase of 15.3 percent. Other commodity groups include: Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (13.3%); Food and NonAlcoholic Beverages (1.4%); Clothing and Footwear (0.6%); and Recreation and Culture (0.3%). See Figure 3

     Meanwhile, three (3) commodity groups showed decreases in inflation rate in December 2020: Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (1.3%); Furnishings Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House (0.8%); and Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (0.2%).

PURCHASING POWER OF PESO

     A decrease in the purchasing of peso was recorded at the end of the year with 0.71 indicating that the prices of the same market basket of goods and services worth Php 100.00 in 2012 would cost Php 71.00 in December 2020. Furthermore, this implies that the price of the market basket of goods and services have been elastic and underwent increases from December 2019 to December 2020. (See Figure 4)

MONTHLY CONSUMER PRICE INDEX

     In December 2020, Samar recorded a Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 140.6. This means that there was a 40.6 percent increase in inflation rate since 2012. See Figure 5

SGD. RIZA N. MORALETA 
Chief Statistical Specialist

TECHNICAL NOTES

Consumer Price Index (CPI) - An indicator of the changes in the average retail prices of a fixed market basket of goods and services commonly purchased by households relative to a base year. 

Uses of CPI - The CPI is most widely used in the calculation of the inflation rate and purchasing power of peso. It is a major statistical series used for economic analysis and as a monitoring indicator of government economic policy. 

Base Period/Year - The reference date or base period is the benchmark or reference date or period at which the index is taken as equal to 100. The current base period is 2012. 

Market Basket - A sample of goods and services purchased for consumption availed by the households in the country selected to represent the composite price behavior of all goods and services purchased by consumers. 

Weight - A value attached to a commodity or group of commodities to indicate the relative importance of that commodity or group of commodities in the market basket. 

Formula - The formula used in computing the CPI is the weighted arithmetic mean of price relatives, the Laspeyre’s formula with a fixed base year period (2012) weights. 

Geographic Coverage - CPI values are computed at the national, regional, and provincial levels, and for selected cities. 

Inflation Rate - is the rate of change of the CPI expressed in percent. Inflation is interpreted in terms of the declining purchasing power of peso. 

Headline Inflation - refers to the rate of change in the CPI, a measure of the average standard “basket” of goods and services consumed by a typical family. 

Purchasing Power of Peso - shows how much the peso in the base period is worth in the current period. It is computed as the reciprocal of the CPI for the period under review multiplied by 100.

SGD. RIZA N. MORALETA 
Chief Statistical Specialist