YEAR-ON-YEAR INFLATION RATES

The headline inflation or the annual rate of change on the prices of goods and services in the market basket of South Cotabato decreased to 2.5 percent in September 2024. It was lower by 3.3 percentage points from the same month last year at 5.8 percent and 1.0 percentage points lower from August 2024 at 3.5 percent. South Cotabato’s inflation was higher by 0.6 percentage point compared to the national estimates and 0.3 percentage points higher compared to the regional estimates, respectively. The year-to-date province average inflation stood at 4.5 percent (Table 1).
 

The major contributors to the downtrend in the province’s inflation rate for the month of September 2024 Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and other Fuels at 1.5 percent, Transport at -5.3 percent, and Education Services at 3.1 percent.

Lower annual increments were noted in the indices of the following commodity groups:

a.    Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and other Fuels, from 6.2% to 1.5%;
b.    Transport, from -2.7% to -5.3%; and
c.    Education Services, from 5.2% to 3.1%.

Higher annual increments were noted in Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages at 5.5%.

The rest of the commodity groups: Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (1.8%), Clothing and Footwear (0.3), Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance (0.7%), Health (3.9%), Information and Communication (0.0%), Recreation, Sport and Culture (0.9%), Restaurants and Accommodation Services (1.0%), Financial Services (-0.1%), and Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (2.1%).
 

Meanwhile, inflation for food increased to 5.8 percent in September 2024 from 5.4 percent in August 2024. In September 2023, food inflation was higher at 7.1 percent (Table 3).
The top three food groups that contributed to the increased in food inflation were Fish and other seafood ND at 3.2%, Fruits and nuts at 21.4% and Meat and other parts of Slaughtered land animals at 1.7%.
 

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Base Period/Year    this refers to the period, usually a year, at which
the index number/points is set to 100. It is the point of the index number series

Consumer Price Index    the average retail prices of a fixed basket of goods
and services commonly purchased by households relative to a base year

Inflation Rate    the annual rate of change or the year-on-year change in the CPI expressed in percent

Market basket    refers to a sample of goods and services that are commonly purchased and bought by an average Filipino household

Weights    a system that considers the relevance of the components of the index

Approved for Release:

MA. EILEEN A. BERDEPRADO
Chief Statistical Specialist 
OIC- Provincial Statistics Officer
Philippine Statistics Authority - South Cotabato

For inquiries, please contact:

HAZELLE KAYE G. ABARO
Statistical Analyst
Philippine Statistics Authority - South Cotabato 
Telephone Number (083) 877-1905