The headline inflation in the Philippines continued to exhibit a slower pace as it eased further to 4.2 percent in November 2021, from 4.6 percent in October 2021. The average inflation from January to November 2021 remained at 4.5 percent. Inflation in November 2020 was posted at 3.3 percent.
The downtrend in the overall inflation was primarily brought about by the slowdown in the inflation for the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages index which slid at 3.9 percent during the month, from 5.3 percent in October 2021. In addition, lower inflation was also recorded in the indices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 7.5 percent, and furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house at 2.4 percent.
On the other hand, inflation rates moved faster for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 4.6 percent, and transport at 8.8 percent.
The indices for the rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month’s annual growth rates.
Core inflation, which excludes selected food and energy items, likewise, decelerated further to 3.3 percent in November 2021, from 3.4 percent in the previous month. In November 2020, core inflation was observed at 3.2 percent.
A downward trend was also registered in the inflation for food index at the national level as it slowed down further to 4.1 percent in November 2021, from 5.6 percent in the previous month. In November 2020, inflation for food was noted at 4.5 percent .
By specific food item, the annual growth rate of the vegetables index dropped by -1.8 percent during the month, after posting a double-digit annual increase of 11.4 percent in October 2021.
Moreover, annual increments in the indices of meat and fish, slid at 10.7 and 7.9 percent, respectively.
The indices of other food groups, however, recorded higher positive growth rate during the month, except for fruits’ index, which retained its previous month’s annual rate of 0.2 percent.
Source: PSA
Comments