Headline Inflation

Oriental Mindoro’s inflation rate for the bottom 30% income households slowed down to 3.0 percent in March 2025 from 3.4 percent in February 2025. In March 2024, inflation rate was posted at 4.2 percent. (Tables 1, 2 and Figure 1)

Main Drivers to the Downward Trend of the Headline Inflation

The downtrend in the overall inflation for the bottom 30% income households in March 2025 was primarily influenced by the lower year-on-year growth in the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 1.0 percent during the month from 1.8 percent in the previous month. The transport index also contributed to the lower inflation rate after posting a year-on-year decline of 2.6 percent during the month from a 0.9 percent annual decrease in February 2025. Moreover, a slower annual increase was observed in the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index at 7.9 percent in March 2025 from 8.4 percent in the previous month.

In addition, slower annual growth rates were noted in the indices of the following commodity groups during the month:

a.personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 1.7 percent from 2.2 percent;
b.recreation, sport and culture, 4.6 percent from 5.4 percent; and
c. furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance, 0.6 percent from 0.8 percent.

In contrast, higher annual growth rates were recorded in the indices of health at 1.1 percent in March 2025 from 1.0 percent in the previous month, and restaurants and accommodation services at 3.2 percent in March 2025 from 1.5 percent in the previous month.

The indices of the rest of the commodity groups retained their respective previous month’s annual rates. (Figure 2)

Main Contributors to the March 2025 Headline Inflation

The following commodity groups were the top three contributors to the March 2025 overall inflation for the bottom 30% income households of the province:

a. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels with 44.7 percentage share or 1.34 percentage points;
b. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 30.0 percent share or 0.90 percentage point; and
c. Food and non-alcoholic beverages with 16.1 percent share or 0.48 percentage point.

Food Inflation

Food inflation for the bottom 30% income households in Oriental Mindoro moved at a slower pace of 0.8 percent in March 2025 from 1.7 percent in the previous month. In March 2024, food inflation was higher at 5.1 percent. (Table 3)

Main Drivers to the Downward Trend of Food Inflation

The deceleration of food inflation in March 2025 was mainly due to the faster annual decline in the index of rice at 15.0 percent during the month from its annual decrease of 12.3 percent in February 2025. Likewise, the slower annual increase in the index of meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals at 22.0 percent during the month from a 28.0 percent year-on-year increment in February 2025 also contributed to the downtrend of the food inflation.

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

a. corn, 1.9 percent from 3.3 percent;
b. flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals, 1.6 percent from 1.7 percent; and
c. fruits and nuts, 7.1 percent from 8.1 percent.

INFLATION RATE BY FOOD GROUP

In contrast, higher annual increases were noted in the following food groups:

a. fish and other seafood, 5.1 percent from 1.5 percent;
b. milk, other dairy products and eggs, 2.4 percent from 2.0 percent;
c. oils and fats, 30.4 percent from 26.4 percent;
d. vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses, 7.0 percent from 6.1 percent; and
e. ready-made food and other food products n.e.c., 4.3 percent from 3.3 percent.

In addition, faster annual increase was observed in the index of sugar, confectionery and desserts at 1.9 percent during the month from a 1.3 percent annual decrement in February 2025. (Figure 3 and Table 3)

Main Contributors to Food Inflation

Food inflation contributed 12.9 percent or 0.39 percentage point to the March 2025 overall inflation of the bottom 30% income households.

Among the food groups, the main contributors to the food inflation during the month were the following:

a. meat and other parts of slaughtered land animal with 393.2 percent share or 3.1 percentage points;
b. fish and other seafood with 107.5 percent share or 0.9 percentage point; and
c. vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses with 62.3 percent share or 0.5 percentage point.

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

HTD/JGO

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.

• 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  chosen reference period. It is computed by getting the reciprocal of the CPI and multiplying the result by 100