Consumer Price Index

Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the general measure of the change in the average retail prices of a market basket or collection of goods and services commonly purchased by the average Filipino household.

The CPI of the City of Baguio in May 2023 was 115.8. Comparing to April 2023, index for the city increased by 0.2 points.

CPI by Commodity Groups

• Among the commodity groups, Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco still had the highest CPI at 135.9 index points, increased by 0.4 points from the previous month.
• Financial Services still had the second highest CPI at 135.4 index points.
• Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages remained the third among the commodity groups in the city at 127.3 index points, increased by 0.5 index points.
• Meanwhile, Information and Communication still had the lowest CPI among the commodity groups at the provincial level with 102.2 index points.

Inflation Rate

Inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. A chief measure of price inflation is the inflation rate, the annualized percentage change in CPI over time.

Following the trend of the inflation at the national and regional level, inflation in Baguio City further slowed down to 3.0 percent in May 2023, from 3.4 percent in April 2023. In May 2022, inflation was higher at 5.9 percent.

The main driver in the downtrend of inflation in April 2023 was transport at 2.8 percent, from 6.4 percent in April 2023.  This was followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages at 8.9 percent, from 9.4 percent, and personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services at 4.9 percent, from the 5.5 percent in the previous month.

Relative to their annual rates in the previous month, decreases were also observed in the indices of the following commodity groups:

1. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 8.9 percent; and
2. Health, 3.1 percent.

On the contrary, increases were observed in the index of the following:

1. Clothing and footwear, 0.7 percent;
2. Furnishing, household equipment and routine household maintenance, 2.1 percent; and
3. Restaurants and accommodation services, 4.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the rest of the commodity groups remained at their previous month’s annual rates.

Food inflation at the city level further decreased to 9.2 percent in May 2023, from 9.6 percent in April 2023. In May 2022, food inflation stood at 12.1 percent.

The lower food inflation was mainly brought about by vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses at 13.9 percent in May 2023, from 17.4 percent in April 2023. It was followed by milk, other dairy products at 18.9 percent, from 20.8 percent, and fish and other seafood at 4.0 percent, from 4.6 percent in the previous month.

Moreover, lower annual mark-ups were observed in the indices of the following food groups during the month:

1. Rice, 5.9 percent;
2. Flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals, 12.2 percent;
3. Oils and fats, 7.9 percent;
4. Sugar, confectionery and desserts, 24.9 percent; and
5. Ready-made food and other food products n.e.c, 7.0 percent.

Meanwhile, increases were recorded for the following:

1. Corn, 60.6 percent;
2. Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals, 3.7 percent; and
3. Fruits and nuts, 15.6 percent.

Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP)

Purchasing Power of Peso is a measure of the real value of peso in a given period relative to the base year. The nearer the base year to the current period, the higher the value of the peso derived. As the period goes farther from the base year, the value of peso diminishes as this is “eaten up” by the inflationary factors.

The value of 1 peso in the city decreased to 86 centavos in May 2023. This can be translated that one peso in 2018 was worth 87 centavos in May 2023.

IMELDA L. BUYUCCAN

Chief Statistical Specialist

/SMBP

-----

TECHNICAL NOTES

Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a general measure of the change in the average retail prices of a market basket or collection of goods and services commonly purchased by the average Filipino household.

Inflation Rate (IR) is the rate of change in the average price level between two periods (year-on year/month-on-month as measured by the CPI).

Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) measures how much the peso in the reference year is worth in another year.

Base Year (BY) is the reference point of the index number series, at which the index number is set to 100. It is the reference point of the index number series.

The CPI is now rebased from base year 2012 to base year 2018. The rebasing of the CPI is done periodically by the PSA:

1. to ensure that the CPI market basket continues to capture goods and services commonly purchased by households over time;
2. to update expenditure patterns of households; and
3. to synchronize its base year with 2018 base year of the Gross Domestic Product and other indices produced by PSA such as Producer Price Index (PPI) for Agriculture; PPI for Manufacturing; and Value of Production Index (VaPI), Volume of Production Index (VoPI), and Value of Net Sales Index (VaNSI) for Manufacturing.

The rebasing of the CPI is also in accordance with the PSA Board Resolution No.1 Series 2017-146 which approves the synchronized rebasing of the price indices to base year 2006 and every six (6) years thereafter.

Market Basket (MB) is a sample of goods and services used to represent all goods and services produced or bought.