SPECIAL RELEASE

August 2024 Inflation Report of Oriental Mindoro (Base Year: 2018)

Table 1. Year-on-Year Inflation Rates (%) in the Philippines, MIMAROPA Region, and Oriental Mindoro Province, All Items (2018=100)

Figure 1. Year-on-Year Inflation Rates (%) in Oriental Mindoro: August 2023 to August 2024 (2018=100)

Headline Inflation

Oriental Mindoro’s headline inflation or the overall inflation eased to 3.4 percent in August 2024 from 4.3 percent in July 2024. This brings the provincial average inflation from January to August 2024 at 3.1 percent. In August 2023, inflation rate in the province was higher at 7.3 percent.

Main Drivers to the Downward Trend of the Headline Inflation

The downtrend in the overall inflation in August 2024 was primarily brought about by the slower annual increment of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 2.3 percent during the month from 3.2 percent in July 2024. Also contributing to the downward trend was transport with an annual drop of 0.7 percent during the month from a 2.5 percent annual increase in July 2024.

Figure 2. Year-on-Year Inflation Rates (%) in Oriental Mindoro by Commodity Group (2018=100)

Lower annual increments were also noted in the indices of the following commodity groups during the month: 

a. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, 6.4 percent from 6.8 percent; b. Restaurants and accommodation services, 9.6 percent from 10.7 percent; 

c. Education services, 0.7 percent from 3.2 percent; 

d. Clothing and footwear, 1.4 percent from 1.8 percent; 

e. Recreation, sport and culture, 1.2 percent from 2.1 percent; 

f. Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 2.0 percent from 2.1 percent; 

g. Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance, 1.2 percent from 1.3 percent;

h. Information and communication, 1.9 percent from 2.0 percent; and 

i. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 2.10 percent from 2.2 percent.

On the contrary, the health exhibited a higher annual increase of 4.6 percent during the month from 4.3 percent in July 2024.

The indices of financial services retained its annual rate of -0.1 percent.

Main Contributors to the Headline Inflation 

The top three commodity groups contributing to the August 2024 overall inflation of the province were the following: 

• Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, 37.5 percentage share or 1.28 percentage point; 

• Food and non-alcoholic beverages, 33.0 percentage share or 1.12 percentage point; and 

• Restaurants and accommodation services, 17.8 percentage share or 0.60 percentage point.

Food Inflation 

Food inflation in Oriental Mindoro eased to 2.3 percent in August 2024 from 3.2 percent in the previous month. In August 2023, food inflation was higher at 8.4 percent.

Main Drivers to the Downward Trend of Food Inflation 

The deceleration of food inflation in August 2024 was primarily brought about by the slower inflation of rice with 5.6 percent in August 2024 from 7.5 percent in the previous month. This was followed by vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses with a year-on-year decline of 3.0 percent during the month from 1.9 percent annual increase in July 2024. 

Moreover, lower inflation rates during the month were noted in the following food groups:

a. Corn, -8.8 percent from -8.2 percent; 

b. Fish and other seafood, -5.7 percent from -5.2 percent; and 

c. Fruits and nuts, 6.1 percent from 6.4 percent.

In contrast, the following commodity groups registered higher inflation during the month: 

a. Flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals, 1.8 percent from 0.9 percent; 

b. Milk, other dairy products and eggs, 1.3 percent from 1.2 percent; and 

c. Ready-made food and other food products not elsewhere classified, 6.3 percent from 6.1 percent.

Meanwhile, slower year-on-year decrease were observed in the indices of oils at 2.3 percent and fats, and sugar confectionery and desserts at 4.6 percent during the month from their respective annual decreases of 4.7 percent and 4.8 percent in the previous month. 

The index of meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals retained its July 2024 annual rate of 8.9 percent.

INFLATION RATE BY FOOD GROUP

Purchasing Power of the Peso

The Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) in Oriental Mindoro is at Php 0.73 in August 2024. The PPP was registered at Php 0.75 in August 2023. 

As a result, the amount of goods that could be presently purchased by consumers was less than when the PPP was higher. Furthermore, the decrease in PPP was attributed to the higher inflation rate, given that PPP and inflation rate have an inverse relationship.

(SGD) CHARLYN ROMERO-CANTOS
(Chief Administrative Officer)
Officer-in-Charge
Oriental Mindoro Provincial Statistical Office

Table 9. Consumer Price Index by Subgroup, Month-on-Month and Year-on-Year Percent Changes in Oriental Mindoro (2018=100)

TECHNICAL NOTES

Consumer Price Index is an indicator of the change in the average prices of a fixed basket of goods and services commonly purchased by households relative to a base year. 

• Market Basket is a sample of goods and services, which is meant to represent the totality of all the goods and services purchased by households relative to a base year. 

• To determine the commodities that will form the market basket for the 2018 based CPI, the Survey of Key Informants (SKI) was conducted in March 2021. The survey, which was conducted nationwide to store managers, sellers or proprietors, obtained information on the most commonly purchased of goods and availed of services by the households. 

• The commodities in the 2018-based CPI market basket are grouped/classified according to the 2020 Philippine Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (PCOICOP) which is based on the United Nations COICOP. Meanwhile, the commodities in the 2012-based CPI market basket used the 2009 PCOICOP version of classification of commodities. 

• Base year is 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. The CPI is rebased from base year 2012 to base year 2018. 

• Inflation Rate is the annual rate of change or the year-on-year change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). 

• Purchasing Power of Peso is a measure of the real value of the peso in a given period relative to a chosen reference period. It is computed by getting the reciprocal of the CPI and multiplying the result by 100