The inflation in Davao Oriental slowed down to 6.7 percent in November 2023, from 7.2 percent in October 2023. This brings the average inflation from January to November 2023 to 8.2 percent. In November 2022, inflation was higher at 9.3 percent. (Tables A and B, and Figure 1)

The downtrend in the overall inflation in November 2023 was primarily brought about by the lower year-on-year growth rate of the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 7.3 percent in November 2023 from 8.3 percent in October 2023. This was followed by transport with -0.4 percent annual decrease from 1.6 percent annual growth in October 2023. The personal care and miscellaneous goods and services index with a slower inflation rate of 8.8 percent in November 2023 from 9.2 percent in the previous month also contributed to the downtrend of the overall inflation. 

In contrast, the following commodity groups showed higher inflation rates during the month:

a. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 10.9 percent from 10.5 percent; 

b. Clothing and footwear, 5.5 percent from 5.0 percent; 

c. Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, 4.2 percent from 4.0 percent; 

d. Health, 6.6 percent from 5.9 percent; and 

e. Recreation, sport and culture, 16.0 percent from 11.7 percent. (Tables C)

 Meanwhile, the indices of the rest of the commodity groups retained their respective previous month’s annual growth rates. (Tables C)

Food inflation at the provincial level decelerated to 7.4 percent in November 2023 from 8.4 percent in the previous month. In November 2022, food inflation was higher at 10.2 percent. (Table D) 

The deceleration of food inflation in November 2023 was primarily influenced by the annual decrease recorded in corn with inflation rate of -1.3 percent during the month from 6.5 percent in October 2023. This was followed by fish and other seafood with an inflation of -5.6 percent in November 2023 from -3.7 percent in October 2023.

Lower inflation rates were also noted in the indices of the following food groups during the month: 

 a. Flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals, 4.3 percent from 5.4 percent;

 b. Milk, other dairy products and eggs, 25.7 percent from 25.8 percent; 

 c. Oils and fats, 1.6 percent from 2.6 percent; 

 d. Fruits and nuts, 5.6 percent from 16.0 percent; and 

 e. Sugar, confectionery and desserts, -14.4 percent from -6.8 percent; and

 f. Ready-made food and other food products n.e.c., 4.7 percent from 6.4 percent. 

On the contrary, higher annual increments were noted in the indices of the following food groups during the month: 

 a. Rice, 27.2 percent from 25.4 percent; 

 b. Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals, 7.4 percent from 4.9 percent; and

 c. Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses,1.3 percent from 0.7 percent. (Table D)

Relative to their respective October 2023 inflation rates, only Davao Del Norte and Davao de Oro recorded higher inflation rates in November 2023. Davao Del Sur recorded the lowest inflation rate in November 2023 at 1.6 percent, while Davao Oriental remained the province with highest inflation rate during the month at 6.7 percent. (Table E)

Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP)

The purchasing power of the peso (PPP) shows how much the peso in the base year (2018) is worth in another period. It is computed by getting the reciprocal of the CPI and multiplying the result by 100. The PPP in Davao Oriental stood at 0.78. This means that the amount of PhP 100.00 in 2018 is equivalent to PhP 78.00 in November 2023. In November 2022, the PPP was higher at 0.94. (Figure 2)

TECHNICAL NOTES 

Uses of CPI 

The CPI is most widely used in the calculation of the inflation rate and purchasing power of peso. It is a major statistical series used for economic analysis and as a monitoring indicator of government economic policy. 

Computation of CPI 

The computation of the CPI involves consideration of the following important points:

a. Base Year/Period - A period, usually a year, at which the index number is set to 100. It is the reference point of the index number series. 

b. Market Basket - A sample of the thousands of varieties of goods purchased for consumption and services availed by the households in the country selected to represent the composite price behavior of all goods and services purchased by consumers. 

c. Weighting System - The weighting pattern uses the expenditures on various consumer items purchased by households as a proportion to total expenditure. 

d. Formula - The formula used in computing the CPI is the weighted arithmetic mean of price relatives, the Laspeyre’s formula with a fixed base year period (2006) weights. 

e. Geographic Coverage - CPI values are computed at the national, regional, and provincial levels, and for selected cities.

 Note: CPIs and inflation rates by province and selected city are posted at the PSA website (https://openstat.psa.gov.ph/). 

Approved for release:

EMILY P. TOMOGDAN 

(Supervising Statistical Specialist) 

Officer-in-Charge