Inflation rate of Davao del Norte increased by 0.3 percentage points (2018=100) in August 2023

1. Inflation in Davao del Norte

 The headline inflation of Davao del Norte decelerated by 5.3 percentage points in August 2023 (1.6%) from its inflation rate in the same month of last year (6.9%). Comparatively, the current inflation rate of the province (1.6%) is lower to the headline inflation of the Philippines (5.3%) and Davao Region (3.9%), by 3.7 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively (Table A). The average inflation of Davao del Norte for the year 2023 stood at 4.0 percent (Table B).

2. Contribution to the Inflation 

Table C showed that the August 2023 inflation of Davao del Norte is mostly contributed by the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages (7.6%); health (6.6%); and personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services (4.6%).

3. Share to the Trend of Inflation

The acceleration of the inflation rate of Davao del Norte can be observed with its upward trend from 1.3 percent in July 2023 to 1.6 percent in August 2023. This increase is mainly contributed by the upward movement of the index for food and non-alcoholic beverages, from a rate of 5.1 percent in July 2023 to 7.6 percent in August 2023. This is followed by the indices of transport (from -6.4% to 0.2%), and personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services (from 2.9% to 4.6%). (Table D). 

Despite the increase of inflation rate in the province, a downward trend in August 2023 compared to their corresponding rates in July 2023 were observed in Table D for the following commodities:

 Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (from -5.3% to -13.9%); 

 Health (from 7.5% to 6.6%); and 

 Information and communication (from 1.5% to 1.4%) 

It can also be observed that the commodity group for financial services shown an insignificant acceleration at a constant rate (0%) in comparison to their corresponding rates in the last month. 

The index for food has also shown an upward trend from 5.1 percent in July 2023 to 7.9 percent in August 2023. The uptrend of the food inflation was mostly attributed by the higher annual increase in the price indices of rice; fish and other seafood; and vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses (Table E.)

4. Purchasing Power of Peso 

The Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) measures the current value of the peso in reference to its value in the base year. It has an inverse relationship with the Cosumer Price Index (CPI) which means that if the CPI increases, the PPP decreases. 

Figure 2 showed that the PPP for the province of Davao del Norte decreased and was recorded at 0.85 in August 2023. This suggests that Php100.00 in 2018 is currently valued at PhP85.00.

PEPITO D. AMOYEN
Chief Statistical Specialist