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

Headline Inflation

Southern Leyte's inflation rate (IR) remained at 1.1 percent in March 2025 compared to February 2025. The rate was 2.4 percentage points lower than in March 2024. In March 2025, national and regional IR registered 1.8 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively.

During the month, the following commodity groups registered an increase in prices but at a slow rate;

a. Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages; 0.4 percent in March 2025 from 1.4 percent in February 2025,

b. Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco; 3.8 percent from 4.9 percent,

c. Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance; 0.2 percent from 0.6 percent,

d. Health; 2.8 percent from percent 3.4,

e. Transport; -1.9 percent from -1.6 percent,

f. Recreation, Sport and Culture; 0.5 percent from 1.0 percent, 

g. Restaurants and Accommodation Services; 1.8 percent from percent 3.6, and

h. Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services; 0.3 percent from 0.7 percent.

Meanwhile, zero percent inflation rate was recorded in the following commodity groups;

a. Clothing and Footwear;

b. Information and Communication;

c. Education Services; and

d. Financial Services.

On the other hand, Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels was the only commodity group that recorded a faster price increase. 

Purchasing Power of the Peso

In March 2025, the Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) of Southern Leyte decreased to 0.81 of its value compared to base year 2018. This means that your Php 100.00 in 2018 would now only be able to buy goods and services worth Php 80.58 at current retail prices.

Furthermore, the national and regional PPPs in March 2025 decreased to 0.78 and 0.80 respectively, from the base year 2018. This means that Php 100.00 in 2018 would now only be able to purchase goods and services worth Php 78.25 and Php 79.62 at current retail prices, 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