Davao Region’s inflation at the beginning of the year slowed down at 4.7%. Inflation was posted at 5.3% in December 2018 and 4.4% in January 2018. The region’s peso purchasing power remained at 83 centavos. Among provinces, Davao del Sur displayed the highest inflation at 5.5% and lowest in Davao Oriental at 2.9% (see Table 1).

The decrease of inflation was primarily due to the slowdown in the annual increments of almost all of the indices except Communication which was at 1.2% from 0.6% in the previous month. Commodity groups such as Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels shared the largest deceleration which was at 11.1% from 14.6%, and 5.6% from 7.4%, respectively. In addition, the following commodity groups likewise contributed to the deceleration of this month’s inflation:

• Health, 6.9%;

• Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance of the House, 5.4%;

• Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, 5.4%;

• Recreation and Culture, 5.0%;

• Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, 4.7%;

• Clothing and Footwear, 4.4%; and

• Transport, 2.0%;

On selected food items, Fish and Vegetables indices showed an accelerated growth at 12.7% from 8.6% and negative 1.5% from negative 4.3%, respectively, while all other items displayed a decelerated growth (see Table 3).

Among 17 regions, inflation was highest in ARMM at 6.1% and lowest in CAR at 3.1%. Regions I to II, IV-A to V, VII, X to XII, NCR and ARMM showed higher rates than the national inflation which was at 4.1% (see Table 4).

In Mindanao, all regions’ inflation decelerated in January 2019. It remained highest in ARMM with 6.1% and lowest in Region IX with 3.6%.

Approved for Release:

RUBEN D. ABARO, JR.

OIC-Regional Director