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 remained unchanged at -0.9 percent in July 2025. It was lower by 5.0 percentage points from the same month last year at 4.1 percent. South Cotabato’s inflation was lower by 1.8 percentage points compared to the national estimate and higher by 0.4 percentage point from the regional estimate. The year-to-date provincial average inflation rate stood at -0.8 percent (Table 1).
 

The major contributors to the province’s inflation rate for the month of July 2025 were Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages at -4.2 percent and Transport at -2.9 percent.

Lower annual increments were noted in Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages with -4.2 percent from -4.0 percent and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels with 1.5 percent.

Higher annual increments were noted in the indices of the following commodity groups:
a.    Health, from 3.6% to 4.0%;
b.    Transport, from -3.2% to -2.9%;
c.    Education Services, from 6.9% to 10.4%;
d.    Restaurants and Accommodation Services, from 4.3% to 4.4%; and
e.    Personal Care and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, from 0.8% to 0.9%

The rest of the commodity groups namely: Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (0.2%), Clothing and Footwear (0.5%), Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance (1.2%), Financial Services (0.0%), Information and Communication (0.0%), and Recreation, Sport and Culture (2.6%) maintained their previous month’s inflation rates. (Table 2)

Meanwhile, inflation for food decreased to -4.7 percent in July 2025 from -4.5 percent in June 2025. In July 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 Rice, from -21.0% to -22.4%; Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses, from -11.4% to -12.4%; and Sugar, confectionery and desserts from -1.6% to 1.1%.