The province’s headline inflation or overall inflation increased to 2.8 percent in April 2024 from 1.4 percent in March 2024.  This brings the provincial average inflation from January to April 2024 to 2.4 percent.  In April 2023, inflation rate was higher at 7.3 percent.  (Table A and Figure 1)

The uptrend in the overall inflation in April 2024 was primarily influenced by the higher year-on-year increase in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at -3.0 percent during the month from -6.7 percent in March 2024.  The faster annual growth rate of the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 5.3 percent in April 2024 from 4.0 percent in the previous month also contributed to the uptrend of the overall inflation. 

In addition, higher annual increases were noted in the indices of the following commodity groups during the month:

a.    Health, 5.2 percent from 5.1 percent;
b.    Transport, 1.2 percent from 1.0 percent;
c.    Information and communication, 1.3 percent from 1.1 percent; and
d.    Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 4.2 percent from 4.0 percent.

In contrast, lower inflation rate was noted in alcoholic beverages at 8.9 percent during the month from 10.6 percent in March 2024.

Meanwhile, the indices of clothing and footwear, furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance, recreation, sport and culture, education services, restaurants and accommodation services and financial services retained their previous month’s inflation rates.

Food inflation at the provincial level rose to 5.6 percent in April 2024 from 4.1 percent in March 2024.  In April 2023, food inflation was higher at 10.8 percent. (Table C)

The acceleration of food inflation in April 2024 was mainly brought about by the year-on-year increase meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals index at 0.4 percent in April 2024 from -1.4 annual decline in the previous month.  This was followed by fish and other seafood with an inflation rate of -3.5 percent during the month from an annual drop of -5.6 percent in March 2024.

In addition, the index of vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses also contributed to the uptrend as it recorded a faster annual increase of 1.9 percent during the month from -1.1 percent in March 2024.

Moreover, higher annual increases were noted in the indices of the following food groups during the month;

a.    Rice, 34.8 percent from 33.0 percent;
b.    Corn, -1.4 percent from -1.8 percent; and
c.    Milk, other dairy products, and eggs, -1.7 percent from -4.9 percent.

On the contrary, lower annual growth rates during the month were observed in the indices of the following food groups:

a.    Flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products and other cereals, 4.4 percent from 4.5 percent;
b.    Fruits and nuts, 4.3 percent from 8.7 percent; and
c.    Ready-made food and other food products n.e.c., 4.9 percent from 5.4 percent.

Purchasing Power of Peso recorded at Php0.76 in April 2024

Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) continues to weaken through the years and reached Php0.76 in April 2024 in Zambales. The PPP of Php0.76 implies that the Php1.00 in 2018, as the base year, values only Php0.76 in April 2024.

NORMAN L. BUNDALIAN
Chief Statistical Specialist 
Philippine Statistics Authority
Zambales Provincial Statistical Office

TECHNICAL NOTES

Consumer Price Index (CPI)
An indicator of the change in the average retail prices of a fixed basket of goods and services commonly purchased by households relative to a base year. Prices are compared to a base year and weighted by the appropriate consumption pattern. The present series uses 2012 as the base year.

Components of the CPI Base Year/Base period
A reference date at which the index is equal to 100. The base year is 2018.

Market Basket
A sample of the variety of goods and services commonly consumed by an average Filipino household to represent the price behavior of all goods and services brought by consumers.

Weight
A value attached to the commodity or group of commodities depending on the magnitude of its distribution to the index.

Sample Outlets
Establishments where prices of commodities are quoted. 

Prices of Items in Market Basket
Baseline information for prices of the items in the base year is established and monitoring the prices of items is done on a regular basis.

Inflation Rate
The annual rate of change or the year-on-year changes in the average retail prices expressed in percent.

Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP)
The measure of how much the peso in the base period is worth in the current period. It is computed by getting the reciprocal of the CPI and multiplying the result by 100.