YEAR-ON-YEAR INFLATION RATES

The inflation or the annual rate of change on the prices of goods and services in the market basket for the bottom 30% income households or the low-income group in General Santos City eased to 1.0 percent inflation in December 2024 from last month’s inflation at 1.4 percent. This was equal to the regional level and lower than the national level at 2.5 percent. This was also lower by 4.1 percentage points from a year ago of the same month at 5.1 percent. The average inflation or the year-to-date inflation of the city was recorded at 3.5 percent. (Table A and Figure 1)

The major contributor to the downtrend in the city’s inflation for the bottom 30% income households for the month of December 2024 was food and non-alcoholic beverages with 1.0 percent inflation from 2.1 percent in the previous month which contributed 100.0 percent to the downtrend.

On the contrary, the following commodity groups for the bottom 30% income households posted a slight increase in December 2024:

a)  Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 2.4 percent from 2.3 percent;
b)  Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, 1.5 percent from 1.4 percent; and
c)  Transport, -0.2 percent from -1.9 percent; and
d)  Personal care and miscellaneous goods and services, 1.5 percent from 1.3 percent. (Table B)

The rest of the commodity groups maintained their previous month’s inflation rates as follows:

a)  Clothing and footwear, at 0.9 percent;
b)  Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance, at -0.1 percent;
c)  Health, at 0.1 percent;
d)  Information and communication, at zero inflation;
e)  Recreation, sport and culture, at 2.2 percent;
f)  Education services, at 8.6 percent;
g)  Restaurants and accommodation services, at zero inflation; and
h)  Financial Services, at zero inflation. (Table B)
 

The major contributor to the downtrend inflation of food and non-alcoholic beverages was fish and other seafood with 4.6 percent in December 2024 from 8.8 percent in the previous month with 48.3 percent share. This was followed by cereals and cereal products with -1.9 percent in December 2024 from -0.5 percent inflation in the previous month. Also fruits and nuts contributed to the downtrend with 6.5 percent inflation during the month from 11.0 percent in November 2024. (Table C)

Meanwhile, General Santos City’s food inflation for the bottom 30% income households declined to 0.8 percent in December 2024 from 2.1 percent in November 2024. The city’s deceleration in food inflation for the bottom 30% income households in December 2024 was due to the lower annual increment in the index of fish and other seafood with 4.6 percent inflation from 8.8 percent in the previous month. This was followed by rice with -3.0 percent inflation during the month from -1.1 percent in November 2024. Slower inflation was also noted in fruits and nuts at 6.5 percent during the month from 11.0 percent in November 2024.

Moreover, downtrend inflation was also observed in the index of flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals with 0.6 percent inflation from 0.8 percent in the previous month.

In contrast, increased annual growth rates during the month were recorded in the indices of the following:

a)    Corn, 8.4 percent from 6.1 percent;
b)    Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals, 2.3 percent from 1.3 percent; 
c)    Milk, other dairy products and eggs, 2.1 percent from 1.4 percent;
d)    Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses, 1.0 percent from 0.5 percent;
e)    Sugar, confectionary and desserts, -3.4 percent from -5.2 percent. (Table D)