Figure 1: Inflation Rate for the All Income and Bottom 30% Income Households in CAR, All Items: December 2023 - December 2024 
In Percent (2018=100)

1.    Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)

In December 2024, the inflation rate for the bottom 30% income households in CAR, accelerated to 3.3% from 2.9% in November 2024. This brought the year-to-date average inflation rate for the period January to December 2024 to 4.3%. The same rate was observed in December 2023 at 4.3% (Table 1 and Figure 1).

1.1 Main Driver to the Upward Trend of Inflation

The upward trend in inflation was largely driven by the heavily weighted Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages commodity group that recorded an inflation rate of 5.4% in December 2024 from 4.6% in November 2024. This commodity group contributed 78.5% to the inflation uptrend in the region bottom 30% income households (Table 1, Table 2, and Figure 1).

Table 1: Year-on-Year Inflation Rates for Bottom 30% Income Households 
by Commodity Group in CAR, All Items: December 2023, November-December 2024
In Percent (2018=100)

Higher annual growth rates were also observed in the indices of the following commodity groups during the month:

a.    Transport, -0.5 % from -1.5%; 
b.    Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, 3.8% from 2.6%;
c.    Restaurants and Accommodation Services, 3.6% from 2.9%; and
d.    Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 3.5% from 3.4%.

On the other hand, slower annual inflation rates were recorded in the indices of the following commodity groups:

a.    Clothing and Footwear, 1.4% from 1.5%; 
b.    Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels -0.6% from 0.5%;
c.    Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance, 2.9% from 3.0%; 
d.    Health, 2.5% from 2.7%; 
e.    Information and Communication, 1.5% from 1.4%; and
f.    Recreation, Sport and Culture, Education Services, 3.2% from 3.5%.

The inflation rates for Education Services and Financial Services remained the same from the previous month at 0.5% and -0.9%, respectively (Table 1).

1.3 Top Three (3) Contributors to Inflation for the Bottom 30% Income Households

The following commodity groups were the top three contributors to the December 2024 overall 3.3% inflation rate for the bottom 30% income households:

a.    Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, contributing 86.5% of the total inflation, or 2.9 percentage points;
b.    Personal Care and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, contributing 5.6% of the total inflation, or 0.2 percentage points; and
c.    Restaurants and Accommodation Services, contributing 3.3% of the total inflation, or 0.1 percentage points.

2.    Food Inflation in CAR

Food inflation for this income group accelerated to 5.4% in December 2024, from 4.6% in November 2024. This accounted for 76.7%, or 2.2 percentage points, to the overall inflation rate of 2.9% for December 2024. In December 2023, food inflation was recorded at 7.2% (Table 2).

2.1 Main Drivers of the Upward Trend in Food Inflation

The increase in food inflation was brought by the lower negative inflation rate in Vegetables, Tubers, Plantains, Cooking Bananas and Pulses that recorded 12.2% from -4.3% in November 2024. This group contributed 91.1% to the increase in food inflation for the bottom 30% income households in the region (Table 1, Table 2, and Figure 1).

Moreover, higher annual inflation growth rates were observed for the following food items in December 2024:

a.    Fish and Other Seafood, 2.9% from 2.1%;
b.    Meat and Other Parts of Slaughtered Land Animals, 4.8% from 4.5%;
c.    Sugar, Confectionery and Desserts, -3.1% from -4.2%. 
d.    Oils and Fats, -0.2% from 0.8%; and
e.    Flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals, 3.5% from 3.3%.

Table 2: Year-on-Year Inflation Rates for Bottom 30% Income Households 
by Food Group in CAR, All Items: December 2023, November 2024-December 2024
In Percent (2018=100)

On the other hand, the following commodity groups recorded slower annual growth rates during the month:

a.    Rice, 6.6% from 10.5%;
b.    Corn, 7.9% from 11.1%;
c.    Milk, Other Dairy Products and Eggs, 1.7% from 2.5%; 
d.    Fruits and Nuts, 0.4% from 1.2%; and
e.    Ready-Made Food and Other Food Products n.e.c., 8.0% from 8.9%.

2.2 Main Contributors to Cordillera Food Inflation

The top three (3) commodity food groups contributing to the 4.6% food inflation during the month were:

a.    Rice, 48.9% share, contributing 2.6 percentage points;
b.    Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses, 23.4% share, contributing 1.3 percentage points; and
c.    Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals, 11.5% share, contributing 0.6 percentage points.

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

In December 2024, inflation rates for the bottom 30% income households in most provinces including Baguio City accelerated, except for:

a.    Apayao, 2.0% from 3.7%; and
b.    Mountain Province, 5.0% from 5.4%.

Table 3: Year-on-Year Inflation Rates for Bottom 30% Income Households 
by Province/City in CAR, All Items: December 2023, November-December 2024
In Percent (2018=100)

For all income households, among the provinces in CAR, Mountain Province recorded the highest inflation rate with 5.2% and Apayao had the lowest with 0.6%. For the bottom 30% households, Abra recorded the highest inflation rate with 5.9% and Apayao registered the lowest with -0.6%.
________________________________________________________________
Note:
Detailed CPI and inflation rate data by province and HUCs are available on the PSA website (http://openstat.psa.gov.ph).

(SGD)
VILLAFE P. ALIBUYOG
Regional Director

Designation    Initials    Date
SOCD, CSS    AFRB    09 January 2025
SOCD, SuSS    WBM    08 January 2025
SOCD, COSW    SCG    08 January 2025

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.