1. Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)

 

The average increase in the prices of goods and services in the region was 7.5 percent in June 2022, higher by 4.6 percentage points compared to the inflation of 2.9 percent in June 2021. (Table A and Figure 1)

 

Overall, all provinces in CAR recorded higher inflation rates for June 2022 compared to June 2021 using 2018 as base year.

 

The acceleration in the region’s inflation rate in June 2022 was primarily due to the higher annual growths in the transport index at 26.7 percent, and alcoholic beverages and tobacco index at 8.4 percent. The following commodity groups also contributed to the upward trend of the inflation during the month:

 

a. Food and non-alcoholic beverages, 7.3 percent;

b. Health; 2.6 percent;

c. Restaurants and accommodation services, 6.9 percent;

d. Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 3.6 percent;

e. Clothing and footwear, 3.2 percent;

f. Furnishing, household equipment and routine household maintenance, 2.5 percent; and

g. Recreation, sport and culture, 2.5 percent.

 

On the other hand, annual increases slowed down in the index of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 6.1 percent.

 

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

 

2. Provinces in CAR

 

Benguet posted the highest inflation rate in June 2022 with 9.8 percent. This is followed by Mt. Province with 8.5 percent and Apayao and Kalinga with 8.4 percent. Abra incurred the lowest inflation rate in the Cordillera region with 5.1 percent. (Table A)

 

The uptrend of inflation in Benguet in June 2022 was also mainly brought about by the higher inflation for transport with 37.2 percent, from 35.3 percent in the previous month. This was followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages with an inflation of 10.6 percent during the month, from 10.0 percent in May 2022.

 

In addition, the following commodity groups contributed to the increase of inflation rate in Benguet:

 

a. Clothing and footwear, 5.6 percent;

b. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 7.7 percent;

c. Health, 3.3 percent;

d. Recreation, sport and culture, 3.6 percent;

e. Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 5.8 percent; and

f. Furnishing, household equipment and routine household maintenance, 2.2 percent.

 

On the contrary, annual increases slowed down in the indices of restaurants and accommodation services and housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels at 8.6 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively.

 

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)