The Retail Price Survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) results showed that Guimaras recorded seven months of deflation in Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages in 2020.
The trend started at -1.13% in January 2020 to a slower -1.34% in May which sustained slow price changes until October 2020 at -0.93%.
Five months posted an inflation or rise in prices of goods starting February (0.69%), March (0.99%), April (1.05%), November (0.70%), December (0.70%) and finally to a slower inflation rate of 0.31% in January 2021.
The year-on-year deflation for the Food group was due to the decrease in prices of Bread and Cereals (-6.19%), Rice (-9.02%) and Sugar, Jam, Honey, Chocolate, and Confectionary (0.89%).
The month-on-month inflation was due to the acceleration of prices of the following food products: Fish (6.99%); Food Products N.E.C. (3.35%); Fruits (3.13%); Vegetables (3.03%); Meat (2.82%); Milk, Cheese, & Eggs (1.73%); Oils & Fats (1.23%); and Sugar, Jam, Honey, Chocolate, & Confectionery (0.27%).
Meanwhile, Non-Alcoholic Beverages recorded an annual inflation of 2.02%, but the prices remained the same from December 2020 to January 2021.
In addition, Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco posted an annual inflation rate of 6.78% where Alcoholic Beverages recorded an inflation of 6.25% and Tobacco at 6.93%.
Comparing the prices of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco from December 2020 to January 2021, Alcoholic Beverages recorded an inflation of 1.84% while Tobacco registered an inflation of 1.86%.
On the average, the monthly inflation for Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco was at 1.87%.
Indices of Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages peaked at 134.6 in April 2020 which consistently moved down until October registering the lowest index at 128.4 but picked up in November at an index of 129.3 until it reached 130.6 in January 2021.
In Western Visayas, Negros Occidental recorded the highest index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages in January 2021 at 291.9, followed by Iloilo (134.2), Capiz (132.1), Antique and Guimaras (130.6 each), and Aklan (129.8).
For Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco, Capiz recorded the highest CPI in January 2021 at 369.2, followed by Guimaras (288.3), Iloilo (287.3), Antique (286.4), Aklan (239.1), and Negros Occidental (137.4).
