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 -2.0 percent in March 2025. It was lower by 8.3 percentage points from the same month last year at 6.3 percent and 1.4 percentage point higher from March 2025 at -0.6 percent. South Cotabato’s inflation was lower by 3.4 percentage points compared to the national estimate and 0.6 percentage points to the regional estimate. The year-to-date provincial average inflation rate stood at -0.7 percent (Table 1).

The major contributors to the downtrend in the province’s inflation rate for the month of April 2025 were Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages at -5.6 percent, Transport at -4.1 percent; and Personal Care and Miscellaneous Goods and Services at 1.0 percent.

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

a.    Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels, from -0.5% to 0.7%; and 
b.    Recreation, Sport and Culture, from 2.0% to 2.2%.

Lower annual increments were noted in the following commodity groups:

a.    Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, from -2.0% to -5.6%;
b.    Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household, from 1.5% to 1.3%;
c.    Health, from 3.8% to 3.6%;
d.    Transport, from -3.3% to -4.1%; and
e.    Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, from 1.5% to 1.0%.

The rest of the commodity groups: Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (0.9%), Clothing and Footwear (0.7%), Information and Communication (0.0%), Education Services (3.1%), Restaurants and Accommodation Services (2.1%) and Financial Services (0.0%) maintained their previous month’s inflation rates (Table 2).

Meanwhile, inflation for food decreased to -6.1 percent in April 2025 from -2.2 percent in February 2025. In February 2024, food inflation was higher at 7.2 percent (Table 3).

The top three food groups that contributed to the decreased in food inflation were Fish and other seafood (from 1.9% to -5.9%), Cereals and cereal products (from -11.0% to 13.6%), and Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses (from -1.9% to -15.0%).
 

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 - JAJI
Statistical Analyst
Philippine Statistics Authority - South Cotabato 
Telephone Number (083) 877-1905