Table 1: Year-on-Year Inflation Rates for All Items in CAR
March 2024, February 2025 – March 2025 
(2018=100)

Figure 1: Inflation Rates in Cordillera Administrative Region, All Items:
March 2024 - March 2025 
In Percent (2018=100)

1.    Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)

The region’s overall inflation rate for all income households slowed down to 2.3 percent in March 2025 from 2.5 percent in February. Compared to March 2024, the inflation rate in the region was posted at 4.0 percent (Table 1 and Figure 1).

1.1 Main Drivers to the Downward Trend of Inflation in Cordillera

The downward trend of the overall inflation of the region was primarily influenced by Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages. This commodity group posted a 2.6 percent inflation rate in March 2025 from 3.0 percent in February, contributing 55.3 percent to the downward trend of the inflation rate. Moreover, the slower increases in Transport with a 0.1 percent inflation rate from 0.6 percent, including Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels with 2.9 percent from 3.0 percent, further decelerated the region’s inflation rate by 18.4 percent and 9.9 percent shares, respectively.

Table 2: Year-on-Year Inflation Rates by Commodity Group, CAR
March 2024, February 2025 – March 2025 
In Percent (2018=100)

Among the thirteen (13) major commodity groups, seven (7) posted slower inflation rates:

a.    Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, 2.6 percent from 3.0 percent; 
b.    Clothing and Footwear, 0.8 percent from 1.0 percent; 
c.    Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels, 2.9 percent from 3.0 percent; 
d.    Furnishings, Household Equipment, and Routine Household Maintenance, 2.3 percent from 2.4 percent;
e.    Health, 2.5 percent from 2.8 percent;
f.    Transport, 0.1 percent from 0.6 percent; and
g.    Restaurants and Accommodation Services, 3.5 percent from 4.0 percent.

On the other hand, two (2) commodity groups posted faster inflation rates:

a.    Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, 3.0 percent from 2.5 percent; and 
b.    Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, 3.9 percent from 4.0 percent.

Additionally, four (4) commodity groups sustained constant inflation rates:

a.    Information and Communication, 0.8 percent;
b.    Recreation, Sport, and Culture, 1.5 percent;
c.    Education Services, 0.3 percent; and
d.    Financial Services, 0.0 percent.

1.2 Main Contributors to Cordillera Inflation

In March 2025, the Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages group was the top contributor to the region’s inflation rate. This commodity group accounted for 42.7 percent of the overall inflation, contributing 1.0 percentage points to the total inflation rate of 2.3 percent. This was followed by:

a.    Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other Fuels, 29.7 percent share or 0.7 percentage points; and
b.    Personal Care and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, 7.2 percent share or 0.2 percentage points.

2.    Food Inflation in CAR

Food inflation in CAR decreased to 2.5 percent in March 2025, down from 3.0 percent in February. This accounted for 38.6 percent of the total inflation rate of 2.3 percent in the region. Compared to March 2024, food inflation was faster at 6.6 percent (Table C).

2.1 Main Drivers of the Downtrend in Food Inflation

In February 2025, the downtrend in Food Inflation was primarily driven by Vegetables, Tubers, Plantains, Cooking Bananas, and Pulses, with 54.6 percent share. This commodity group recorded an inflation rate of 2.9 percent from 7.7 percent in February 2025.

In addition, further price drops were observed in the following commodity food groups:

a.    Rice, -3.2 percent from -1.6 percent; and
b.    Corn, -4.3 percent from -2.7 percent;

Meanwhile, faster inflation rates were noted in the following food groups during the month:

a.    Flour, Bread and Other Bakery Products, Pasta Products, and Other Cereals, 2.9 percent from 2.8 percent; 
b.    Meat and Other Parts of Slaughtered Land Animals, 7.8 percent from 6.1 percent; 
c.    Fish and Other Seafood, 4.3 percent from 3.9 percent; 
d.    Milk, Other Dairy Products and Eggs, 1.7 percent from 0.4 percent;
e.    Oils and Fats, 2.0 percent from 1.4 percent;
f.    Fruits and Nuts, 5.7 percent from 5.5 percent; and
g.    Sugar, Confectionery and Desserts, 2.5 percent from 0.9 percent.

Moreover, Ready-made Food and Other Food Products not elsewhere classified maintained the same inflation rate of 5.2 percent.

Table 3: Year-on-Year Inflation Rates for Food in CAR
In Percent (2018=100)

2.2 Main Contributors to Cordillera Food Inflation

The top three (3) food groups contributing to the 2.5 percent food inflation during the month of March were:
a.    Meat and Other Parts of Slaughtered Land Animals, 57.6 percent share or 1.4 percentage points;
b.    Fish and Other Seafood, 23.4 percent share or 0.6 percentage points; and
c.    Vegetables, Tubers, Plantains, Cooking Bananas, and Pulses, 13.9 percent or 0.4 percentage points.

3.    Provinces/ Highly Urbanized City (HUC) in CAR

In March 2025, four (4) provinces/HUC in the region posted lower inflation rates. The inflation rates for each province/city were as follows:

a.    Abra, 0.7 percent from 2.7 percent;
b.    Baguio City, 3.2 percent from 3.4 percent;
c.    Benguet, 1.9 percent from 2.2 percent; and
d.    Kalinga, 1.5 percent from 1.8 percent.

Meanwhile, two (2) provinces posted higher inflation rates:

a.    Apayao, 0.7 percent from -1.2 percent; and
b.    Ifugao, 2.6 percent from 2.1 percent.

Among the provinces and HUC, Mountain Province recorded the highest inflation rate in March 2025, with 3.9 percent, the same rate reported in February. On the other hand, the provinces of Abra and Apayao reported the lowest inflation rates, both at 0.7 percent (Table 1).

4.    Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP)

In March 2025, the region's purchasing power of peso (PPP) stood at PhP 0.79. This indicates that PhP 100.00 in 2018 had the equivalent value of PhP 79.00 during the reference month. Among the six (6) provinces and one (1) highly urbanized city (HUC), two areas reported higher PPP than the regional level: Baguio City at PhP 0.81 and Abra at PhP 0.80.

On the other hand, four (4) areas registered lower PPP values: Apayao and Kalinga both at PhP 0.78, Ifugao at PhP 0.76, and Mountain Province at PhP 0.75. Meanwhile, Benguet had a PPP equal to the regional level at PhP 0.79.
__________________________________________________________________
Note:
CPI and inflation rates by province and HUCs are available on the PSA website (http://openstat.psa.gov.ph).

(SGD)
VILLAFE P. ALIBUYOG
Regional Director

Designation    Initials    Date
CSS                 AFRB     11 April ‘25
SuSS               WBM     08 April ‘25
AS                   JPL        08 April ‘25

 
Technical Notes

Base Period a reference period, usually a year, at which the index number is set to 100. It is the reference point of the index number series.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) is an indicator of the change in the average retail prices of a fixed basket of goods and services commonly purchased by an average Filipino household. It shows how much on average, prices of goods and services have increased or decreased from a particular reference period known as base year.

Inflation Rate refers to the annual rate of change or the year-on-year change of the CPI expressed in percent. Inflation is interpreted in terms of the declining purchasing power of money.

Market Basket for CPI purposes, market basket is a term used to refer to a sample of goods and services that are commonly purchased and bought by an average Filipino household.

Philippine Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (PCOICOP) A detailed classification of individual consumption expenditures on goods and services incurred by the three (household, general government, non-profit institutions serving households) of the five institutional sectors (non-financial corporations, financial corporations) of the 1993 and 2008 Systems of National Accounts (SNA). The PCOICOP was patterned after the United Nations COICOP.

Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) shows how much the peso in the base period is worth in the current period. It is computed as the reciprocal of the CPI for the period under review multiplied by 100.

Weight is a value attached to a commodity or group of commodities to indicate the relative importance of that commodity or group of commodities in the market basket.