Eastern Visayas welcomes 2022 with 5.2% inflation rate

By PSA-8
February 28, 2022

TACLOBAN CITY – Eastern Visayas welcomed 2022 with 5.2 percent Inflation Rate (IR) in January. This IR is 1.0 percentage point higher compared with the 4.2 percent IR in December 2021. This January 2022 IR nearly doubled the recorded 2.9 percent IR in January 2021.

In comparison with the national average IR, the regional IR is higher by 2.2 percentage points than the 3.0 percent national IR in January 2022.

Among the provinces, Leyte posted the highest IR at 6.2 percent in January 2022. Southern Leyte’s IR came next at 5.7 percent, then Eastern Samar at 5.2 percent. The lowest IR was noted in Samar at 4.1 percent. All provinces exhibited higher IRs in January 2022 compared with their figures in December 2021. Southern Leyte’s IR more than doubled, from 2.8 percent in December 2021 to 5.7 percent in January 2022. This is the biggest increase in IR among the provinces in the region at 2.9 percentage points. The IR in Biliran posted at 4.6 percent in January 2022 is 2.0 percentage points higher than its 2.6 percent IR in December 2021.

Leyte and Northern Samar both recorded 1.2 percentage points increase, pushing their January 2022 IRs to 6.2 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively. IR in Eastern Samar picked up by 0.5 percentage point, registering 5.2 percent IR in January 2022. Samar’s IR inched up by 0.1 percentage point in January 2022, settling at 4.1 percent. Meanwhile, IR for Tacloban City, the lone Highly Uranized City (HUC) in the region, was recorded at 4.4 percent in January 2022, 0.8 percentage point higher than its 3.6 percent IR in December 2021.

In January 2022, only the commodity groups of food and non-alcoholic beverages, transport; and housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels registered IRs higher than their previous month’s levels by 2.3 percentage points, 0.2 percentage point, and 0.2 percentage point, respectively. All other commodity groups have either lower or retained their December IRs.

The financial services commodity group maintained its December 2021 IR at 47.0 percent, registering the highest IR among commodity groups in January 2022. This was followed by transport commodity group (7.4%); food and non-alcoholic beverages commodity group (7.2%); and housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels commodity groups (5.7%). All the other commodity groups have IRs lower than the IR for all items recorded at 5.2 percent.

The heavily weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages commodity group registered the biggest increase in IR with 2.3 percentage points, from 4.9 percent in December 2021 to 7.2 percent in January 2022. Higher IRs were noted in majority of the items under this commodity group. Fish and other seafood index registered the highest increase of 4.7 percentage points, posting an IR of 14.9 percent in January 2022 from 10.2 percent in December 2021. Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals index likewise posted higher double-digit IR in January 2022 at 17.3 percent from 12.7 percent in December 2021. Prices of corn picked up by 0.6 percent in January 2022 after registering 4.0 percent deflation in December 2021.

The indices of vegetables, tubers, cooking bananas and pulses (4.1%); non-alcoholic beverages (0.5%); and flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals (0.5%) likewise registered annual price hikes during the month in review after registering deflations in December 2021. The rest of the items under this commodity group recorded increases in IRs ranging from 0.2 percent to 0.7 percent. Meanwhile, IR for fruits and nuts index fell to 8.6 percent in January 2022 from its double-digit IR of 10.4 percent a month ago. Sugar, confectionery, and desserts index retained its previous month’s IR at 1.1 percent.

The IRs for transport commodity group and housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels commodity group both inched up by 0.2 percentage point registering 7.4 percent and 5.7 percent, respectively, in January 2022.

On the other hand, IRs for the commodity groups of clothing and footwear; information and communication; and furnishings, household equipment, and routine maintenance of the house managed to shed off 0.2 percentage point from their IRs in December 2021, settling at 1.2 percent, 0.6 percent, and 0.4 percent, respectively, during the month in review.

The IRs for restaurants and accommodation services commodity group (1.0%); personal care and miscellaneous goods and services commodity group (0.5%); and recreation, sport, and culture commodity group (0.5%) all eased by 0.1 percentage point in January 2022.

Meanwhile, the commodity groups of financial services; alcoholic beverages and tobacco; and health retained their previous month’s IRs at 47.0 percent, 2.5 percent, and 0.9 percent, respectively. Education services registered zero IR during the month in review.

The Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) of the region weakened to P0.89 in January 2022 from P0.91 in December 2021. This PPP implies that the goods and services worth P89.00 in 2018 is now worth P100.00 in January 2022.

Compared with their levels in December 2021, PPP in Biliran and Southern Leyte both weakened by P0.03. PPP in Eastern Samar and Samar reduced by P0.02, while PPP in Leyte and Northern Samar diminished by P0.01. Southern Leyte recorded the strongest PPP at P0.91, while Samar posted the weakest PPP during the reference month at P0.87.

The PPP in Tacloban City was pegged at 0.89 in January 2022. This figure is P0.02 lower compared with its P0.91 PPP in December 2021.