Inflation Rate for the Bottom 30% Income Household of SOCCSKSARGEN Region rose to 3.6 percent in September 2020 from 2.5% in August 2020. Dipping by 4 percentage points from 25.9 percent in August 2020, Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco still posted the highest price gains among the commodity groups sustaining a double digit record at 21.9 percent. Transport had the highest month-on-month rise on inflation gaining 12.5 percentage points from 5.3 percent in August 2020 to 17.8 percent in September 2020. Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (from -0.9% to 0.3%) and Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (from 4.0% to 4.6%) also recorded higher price mark-ups.

In contrast, slower annual price hike were recorded in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels (from 4.3% to 3.8%), Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House (from 1.6% to 1.1%), Health (from 4.5% to 4.3%) and Recreation and Culture (from 0.3% to 0.1%). A deflation was noted in Education (from 0.0% to -0.3%) while Clothing and Footwear and Communication sustained previous month’s figure of 2.2% and 1.7%, respectively.