1.   Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)

The inflation of the prices of goods and services in the region slowed down to 7.3 percent in July 2022, from 7.5 percent in June 2022. In July 2021, the inflation rate in the region was lower at 3.3 percent. (Table A and Figure 1)

The deceleration in the region’s inflation rate in July 2022 was brought about by the lower annual increase in the housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels index at 5.0 percent, from 6.1 percent in the previous month. Moreover, a lower annual hike was also observed in the food and non-alcoholic beverages index at 6.5 percent.

Meanwhile, higher annual increases were noted in the indices of the following commodity groups during the month:

a.   Transport, 28.7 percent;

b.   Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 9.6 percent;

c.   Restaurants and accommodation services, 7.3 percent;

d.   Recreation, sport and culture, 2.8 percent;

e.   Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 4.0 percent;

f.     Furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance, 2.8 percent;

g.   Health, 2.7 percent; and

h.   Clothing and footwear, 3.2 percent.

The rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month’s inflation rates. (Table 3 and 4)

2.   Provinces/ Highly Urbanized City (HUC) in CAR

Benguet, excluding the only HUC in CAR which is the City of Baguio, posted the highest inflation rate in July 2022 with 9.5 percent. This is followed by Mt. Province and Kalinga with 8.0 percent and Apayao with 7.7 percent. Ifugao incurred the lowest inflation rate in the Cordillera region with 5.5 percent in July 2022. (Table A)

Similar to the trend at the regional level, the inflation in Benguet slowed down to 9.5 percent in July 2022. In the previous month, the inflation rate in the area was 9.8 percent. In July 2021, the inflation rate in the area was lower at 2.8 percent.

The deceleration of the inflation rate in Benguet was mainly brought about by the lower annual increase in the food and non-alcoholic beverages at 8.9 percent, from 10.6 percent in the previous month. Lower annual hikes were also observed in the indices of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels with 4.6 percent; clothing and footwear with 5.5 percent; and information and communication with 1.4 percent.

On the other hand, annual increases were higher for the following commodity groups in Benguet:

a.   Transport, 39.2 percent;

b.   Personal car, and miscellaneous goods and services, 6.6 percent;

c.   Recreation, sport and culture, 3.9 percent;

d.   Furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance, 2.4 percent; and

e.   Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 7.9 percent.

The indices of the rest of the commodity groups either retained their previous month’s rates or had zero percent annual growth during the month. (Table 4)

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Note:

CPI and inflation rates by province and selected city are posted at the PSA website (http://openstat.psa.gov.ph).

VILLAFE P. ALIBUYOG

Regional Director