• 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 Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) in August 2020 was 121.4. This was higher by 2.4 index points from the 119.0 CPI of August 2019 using 2012 as base year.
• In general, the CPI increased reflecting the rise in the average prices of goods and services in all the six provinces of CAR.

• Among the CAR provinces, Kalinga posted the highest CPI for August 2020 at 126.4, followed by Apayao at 123.6, and Benguet at 121.3 while Mountain Province posted the lowest CPI at 119.2.

CPI by Commodity Groups

• Among the commodity groups, Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco had the highest CPI in the region with 244.8 index points. The province of Apayao incurred the highest CPI on this commodity with 418.3 index points, followed by Abra, Kalinga, and Ifugao at 341.2, 309.3, and 249.2 index points, respectively.
• Clothing and Footwear ranked second among the commodity groups in the region for August 2020 at 129.0 index points. Among the provinces, Kalinga had the highest index on clothing and footwear at 137.5, while Apayao had the lowest at 123.3 index points.
• Education registered the third highest CPI at 128.0 index points. Kalinga recorded the highest index on education at 193.9, followed by Benguet and Mountain Province at 127.5 and 125.3 index points, respectively.
• Communication incurred the lowest CPI among the commodity groups in the region during the month of August 2020 with 102.1 index points. The province of Abra incurred the highest index on communication with 105.0 index points, while Mountain Province had the lowest with 98.0 index points.
• Among the CAR provinces, Kalinga incurred the highest CPI for all items with 126.4, while Mountain Province garnered the lowest index at 119.2 in August 2020.

• By index point change, Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco recorded the highest increase at 23.2 index points. Increases were also incurred in Restaurant (5.4 points), Clothing and Footwear (4.8 points), and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (3.1 points). The rest of the commodity groups reported minimal annual increases.

Inflation Rate

• The average increase in the prices of goods and services in the region increased to 2.0% in August 2020 from the 2.0% in August 2019.
• Abra posted the highest inflation rate in August 2020 with 3.2%, followed by Ifugao and Benguet with 2.5% and 2.2%, respectively. Apayao incurred the least inflation with 0.7% among all provinces.
• Only the province of Abra and Benguet had higher inflation rates for August 2020 compared to August 2019.

Figure 5. Inflation Rates by Commodity Groups, CAR: August 2020 (2012=100)

• Among all other commodities, Transport incurred the lowest inflation rate with negative 1.2%.

By Food Items, Year-on-Year

• Among the food items, Corn recorded the highest CPI in the region in August 2020 with 175.0. This was followed by Fruits, Fish, and Meat with 140.2, 136.2, and 128.7 index points, respectively.
• By index point change, Fish recorded the highest increase by 10.9. Corn followed with 10.2 index point increase followed by Food Products, N.E.C. with 7.1.

Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP)

• The value of 1 peso in the region was 82 centavos in August 2020. It dropped by two centavos from 84 centavos in August 2019. This can be translated that hundred pesos in 2012 was worth 82 pesos in August 2020.
• Also, a basket of goods that can be bought with 100 pesos in December 2012 is worth 121.4 pesos in August 2020.
• The PPP in all the provinces generally weakened in August 2020 compared to the same month of the previous year.
• Mountain Province had the highest peso value with 84 centavos, followed by Abra and Ifugao with 83 centavos. Meanwhile, Kalinga had the lowest peso value with 79 centavos.