Consumer Price Index

• The Consumer Price Index of CAR in May, 2015 was 138.1, higher by 1.7 from last year’s 136.4.
• Generally, there was an increase in the CPI of all the provinces due to the increase in the average prices of goods and services.

Table1. Consumer Price Index by Province, CAR:
 May 2014 and May 2015
(2006=100)

• Among provinces, Mt. Province posted the highest CPI at 143.4 followed by Benguet and Ifugao, both at 140.8. On the other hand, Apayao posted the lowest at 129.5.
• In terms of index point change, Benguet reported the highest at 2.6 while Kalinga was lowest at -0.5.
• The Consumer Price Index 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.

Consumer Price Index by Commodity Groups

• Among the commodity groups, under Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, Abra had the highest consumer price index at 195.2 followed by Kalinga and Benguet at 191.0 and 190.5, respectively.
• Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages came next with Benguet having the most at 156.0 followed by Mt. Province at 154.2.
• Education had the third highest index by commodity group with Mt. Province having contributed the most at 175.5 followed by Kalinga at 157.3.
• Communication had the lowest consumer price index. Abra posted the highest index at 111.3 while Apayao had the lowest at 77.7.
• Across provinces, Apayao posted the lowest index except for Food and NonAlcoholic Beverages, Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, Recreation and Culture; and Restaurants and Miscellaneous Goods and Services.
• By index point change, Education recorded the highest change at 6.6 index. This was followed by Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages at 4.6 and 4.0, respectively.
• The rest of the commodity groups reported a minimal annual increase in their index point change. Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels and Transport had a negative percent change.

Table2. Consumer Price Index by Commodity Group and by Province, CAR:
May 2015 (2006=100)

                  Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

• By index point change, education recorded the highest change at 12.5 points. This was followed by alcoholic beverages and tobacco and food and non-alcoholic beverages at 11.4 and 4.3 points, respectively.
• The rest of the commodity groups reported a minimal annual increase in their index points. On the other hand, Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels decreased by 1.1 points.

Figure 1. Year-on-Year Consumer Price Index by Commodity Group,
CAR: May 2014 and March 2015 (2006=100)

                                                                   Note:
                                                                    ^{1. includes electricity, Gas & Other Fuels
                                                                                          2. includes Household Equipment and Routine Maintainance of the House
                                                                                           3. includes Miscellaneous Goods and Services}
                                                                   Source:Philippine Statistics Authority

Inflation Rate

• The inflation rate of CAR in MAY 2015 was 1.2 percent, lower by 2.5 percentage points from last years' inflation rate
• Mt. Province posted the highest inflation with 2.5 percent follwed by Benguet at 1.9 percent. On the other hand, Kalinga posed the lowest Inflation Rate at -0.4 percent.
• May 2015, inflation rate in all provinces is lower compared to last year's IR. It showed that the rate of change in average prices in the provinces is slow in the decrease in inflation rates. Ifugao and Kalinga had negative inflation rates.

By Commodity Group, Month - on - Month

• The annual inflation for All Items in the Cordillera was 1.2. Among the regions, CAR had the higher annual gains.
• By commodity, the year-on-year growth of the heavily-weighted Food and NonAlcoholic Beverages index in the Cordillera was 2.7 percent. Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels; Health and Restaurants and Miscellaneous Good and Services decreased in their inflation rates. Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House and Health increased in their inflation rates. Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco; Clothing and Footwear; Recreation and Culture; Communication and Education indices remained compared to the previous years’ indices. Transport had a negative index although it increased in its inflation rate.
• In the region, the inflation rate for All Items was at -0.3 percent during the month, that decreased compared to the previous month. The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages index decreased at -0.3 percent. There was no change in the inflation rates for Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, Communication, Recreation and Culture and Education commodity groups.

Table 3. Month-on-Month Inflation Rates by Commodity Groups,
CAR: Mayand  April 2015 (2006 = 100)

By Food Items, Year - on - Year

• Generally, for the year-on-year inflation rates of selected food items for the region, there was decrease for some food items. There was an annual increase in the other food items. Fruits index resulted in a two-digit value but had a decrease of 1.4 in its inflation rate from 13.6 to 12.2%.
• Other Cereals remained in its inflation rate. 

Table5. Year - on Year Inflation Rates of Selected Food Items, CAR:
May and April 2014 and 2014(2006=100)

Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP)

• The value of the peso in CAR dropped to 72 centavos from last year’s 73 centavos. Meaning, that market value of goods and services worth 72 centavos in May, 2006 were bought at one peso in May, 2015.
• Compared to May, 2014, the Purchasing Power of the Peso of four provinces decreased. Abra, Kalinga and Ifugao remained in their PPP.
• Abra and Apayao had the highest peso value, both at 77 centavos followed by Kalinga at 75 centavos. On the other hand, Mt. Province had the lowest peso value at 70 centavos.

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 zero.

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