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 Province of Benguet in February 2023 was 120.4, decreased by 0.4 index points from the 120.8 index last January 2023.

CPI by Commodity Groups

• Among the commodity groups, Financial Services still had the highest CPI at 146.0 index points. It recorded a constant 146.0 CPI starting January 2022 up to this month.
   
• Transport Services ranked second among the commodity groups in the province at 140.9 index points in February 2023. It decreased by 1.2 index point comparing from the previous month.
   
• Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco registered the third highest CPI at 129.8 index points, increased by 0.2 index point from the previous month.
   
• Meanwhile, Information and Communication still had the lowest CPI among the commodity groups at the provincial level with 103.0 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 Benguet further decreased to 6.4 percent in February 2023, from 6.9 percent in January 2023. In February 2022, inflation was higher at 7.2 percent.

The main driver in the downtrend of inflation in February 2023 was the lower year-on-year increase in the index of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 9.7 percent, from 10.6 percent in January 2023.  This was followed by transport at 12.2 percent, from 14.6 percent, and restaurants and accommodation services at 4.4 percent, from the 4.7 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. Clothing and footwear, 5.4 percent;
2. Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance, 4.5 percent;
3. Health, 4.2 percent; and
4. Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 5.0 percent.

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

1. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, 2.5 percent; and
2. Recreation, sport and culture, 5.2 percent.

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

Food inflation at the provincial level decreased to 10.0 percent in February 2023, from 10.9 percent in January 2023. In February 2022, food inflation stood at 7.5 percent.

The lower food inflation was mainly brought about by the decreased year-on-year growth in the index of vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses at 34.9 percent in February 2023, from 39.4 percent in January 2023. It was followed by rice at 4.1 percent, from 6.0 percent and meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals at -1.1 percent, from 0,9 percent in the previous month. Moreover, lower annual mark-ups were observed in the indices of the following food groups during the month:

1. Cereals, 3.8 percent;
2. Corn, -5.0 percent;
3. Oils and fats, 16.9 percent; and
4. Sugar, confectionery and desserts, 39.7 percent.

Meanwhile, higher annual growth rates were observed in the indices of the following food groups in February 2023:

1. Flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals, 6.0 percent;
2. Fish and other seafoods, 4.9 percent;
3. Milk and other dairy products and eggs, 13.7 percent; and
4. Fruits and nuts, 12.7 percent.

Ready-made food and other food products not elsewhere classified remained at 5.4 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 province was 83 centavos in February 2023. This can be translated that one peso in 2018 was worth 83 centavos in February 2023.

- 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.

IMELDA L. BUYUCCAN
Chief Statistical Specialist