YEAR-ON-YEAR INFLATION RATES

The headline inflation or overall inflation in the prices of goods and services in the market basket in General Santos City remained at 1.1 percent in January 2025, the same annual growth rate recorded in December 2024. This was lower than the national level at 2.9 percent and equal to the regional level at 1.1 percent. The city-level average inflation for the first month of the year stood at 1.1 percent. In January 2024, the inflation rate was higher at 2.9 percent. (Table A and Figure 1)

The main contributors to the city’s inflation for the month of January 2025 was food and non-alcoholic beverages, which registered an inflation rate of 2.0 percent in January 2025, contributed 71.2 percent or 0.8 percentage point to the overall inflation during the month.
    
Other main contributors to the January 2025 inflation were the following:

a. Education services with 17.9 percent share or 0.2 percentage point; and
b. Health with 7.5 percentage share or 0.1 percentage point.

Faster annual increases were observed in the indices of the following commodity groups during the month:

a. Food and non-alcoholic beverages, 2.0 percent from 1.5 percent;
b. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 2.9 percent from 2.4 percent;
c. Clothing and footwear, 1.1 percent from 0.7 percent;
d. Health, 2.3 percent from 1.4 percent;
e. Transport, 0.1 percent from -0.5 percent;
f. Recreation, sport and culture, 1.4 percent from 0.7 percent; and
g. Personal care and miscellaneous goods and services, 1.3 percent from 1.0 percent. (Table B)

On the contrary, the following major commodity groups registered lower inflation rates during the month:

a. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, -0.4 percent from 0.9 percent;
b. Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance, 0.2 percent from 0.3 percent; and
c. Restaurants and accommodation services, -0.9 percent from 0.0 percent. (Table B)

Meanwhile, the following are the major commodity groups that remained at their respective previous month’s annual rates:

a. Information and communication, at 0.0 percent; 
b. Education services, at 8.7 percent; and
c. Financial services, at 0.0 percent. (Table B)

Food inflation in General Santos City rose to 2.0 percent in January 2025 from 1.5 percent in December 2024. In January 2024, food inflation was higher at 4.8 percent. (Table C)

The acceleration of food inflation in January 2025 was due to faster annual growth rates of meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals at 6.5 percent from 2.5 percent in December 2024. Also, the index of vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses increased to 6.4 percent in January 2025 from 0.6 percent in the previous month. The index of milk, other dairy products and eggs also contributed to the uptrend at 5.4 percent during the month from 1.9 percent in December 2024. (Table C)

Moreover, the following food groups also contributed faster annual growth rates during the month:

a. Flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products,  and other cereals, 1.1 percent from 0.7 percent;
b. Oils and fats, 7.2 percent from 6.5 percent; and
c. Sugar, confectionery and desserts, -4.2 percent from -4.3 percent. (Table C)

In contrast, lower annual growth rates were noted in the indices of the following food groups during the month:

a. Rice, -3.5 percent from -2.2 percent;
b. Corn, 3.9 percent from 8.4 percent;
c. Fish and other seafood, 1.7 percent from 4.8 percent;
d. Fruits and nuts, 4.4 percent from 6.9 percent; and
e. Ready-made food and other food products n.e.c., 4.2 percent from 5.4 percent. (Table C)