ILOILO City – Western Visayas’ inflation rose to 6.9 percent in July from 6.2 percent in June.
The main contributor to the uptrend of the region’s inflation was the higher annual movement in the food and non-alcoholic beverages index at 8.7 percent, from 7.3 in June 2022, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Next is transport with 17.3 percent growth from 16.5 percent in the previous month.
Also contributing to the acceleration in the overall inflation during the period was the higher growth in the furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance index with 2.9 percent, from 2.0 percent in June.
Average inflation from January to July 2022 is recorded at 5.2 percent.
Inflation in July of the previous year was lower at 3.7 percent.
On the other hand, annual growth slowed down during the month in the indices of restaurants and accommodation services at 5.0 percent; alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 10.7 percent; clothing and footwear at 2.0 percent; health at 1.6 percent, and recreation, sport and culture at 3.2 percent.
The rest of the commodity groups either retained their previous month’s inflation rates or had zero percent annual growths.
Food inflation in Western Visayas increased further to 9.1 percent in July 2022, from 7.6 percent in the previous month. Food inflation was lower in July 2021 at 2.0 percent.
The uptrend is influenced primarily by higher annual growth in the food sub-groups of fish and other seafood at 10.0 percent; meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals at 15.2 percent, and sugar, confectionery and desserts with 18.7 percent growth in July 2022
All six provinces in Western Visayas registered continued uptrend in inflation rates in July 2022. Guimaras recorded the highest inflation of 8.7 percent, while Iloilo had the lowest at 5.3 percent.
Of the two highly urbanized cities in the region, Iloilo City recorded 8.9 percent while Bacolod City had 4.2 percent inflation rates, respectively. (PSA)/PN
