CITY OF DAVAO

1.    Headline Inflation

In April 2024 headline inflation, underwent an increase to 4.7 percent, reflecting a 0.3 percent points from the March 2024 rate at 4.4 percent. Notably, the current inflation rate was 4.1 percentage points lower than the figure reported in April 2023. Meanwhile, the city's average inflation rate from January to April 2024 stands at 4.8 percent (Table A and Figure 1).

1.1 Main Drivers contributing to the Rising Headline Inflation

Among the 13 commodity groups, higher headline inflation in April 2024 was primarily brought about by the increase in the index of (a) Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages at 9.0 percent, from 8.6 percent in the previous month. Second top contributing commodity group was (b) Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels at negative 3.2 percent, from negative 3.7 percent in the previous month. The third commodity group with the largest contribution to the increasing trend was (c) Transport at 4.3 percent, which increased from 4.1 percent in the previous month. Also contributing to the trend of the headline inflation in the city was (d) Health at 4.6 percent from 4.5 percent in the previous month.

In contrast, several commodity groups experienced lower inflation rates in April 2024. Specifically:

a)    Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco at 5.6 percent;
b)    Clothing and Footwear at 5.1 percent;
c)    Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance at 3.5 percent;
d)    Information and Communication at negative 0.3 percent;
e)    Recreation, Sport and Culture at 3.2 percent; and
f)    Personal Care, And Miscellaneous Goods and Services at 5.5 percent.

The rest of the commodities, on the other hand, remained unchanged.

2. Food Inflation

Meanwhile, food inflation increased to 9.2 percent in April 2024 from 8.6 percent in the previous month. The increase was mainly due to a) Vegetables, Tubers, Plantains, Cooking Bananas and Pulses at 6.3 percent, from negative 1.2 percent in the previous month. This was followed by b) Milk, Other Dairy Products and Eggs at 3.0 percent, from 0.5 percent in the previous month; the third food commodity contributing to higher food inflation was c) Meat and Other Parts of Slaughtered Land Animals at 2.3 percent, from 1.4 percent in the previous month. Also, higher food inflation was observed in (d) Ready-made Food and Other Food Products N.E.C., which increased to 7.5 percent from 6.5 percent in the previous month.

In contrast, the remaining food commodities experienced a declining rate of inflation.

3. Purchasing Power of Peso

The Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) in Davao City for April 2024 increased at 0.78 percent, compared from 0.77 in the previous month, as illustrated in Figure 2. Furthermore, to purchase the same set of goods and services that cost Php 100 in 2018, one would require Php 129.00 in April 2024.

Technical Notes:

Consumer Price Index (CPI) - The CPI is an indicator of the change in the average retail prices of a fixed basket of goods and services commonly purchased by households relative to a base year.

Inflation Rate (IR) - The inflation rate is the annual rate of change, or the year-on-year change of the CPI expressed in percent. Inflation is interpreted in terms of declining purchasing power of money.

Headline Inflation - measures changes in the cost of living based on movements in the prices of a specified basket of major commodities. It refers to the annual rate of change or the year-on-year change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP) - The purchasing power of the peso shows how much the peso in the base period is worth in the current period. It is computed as the reciprocal of the CPI for the period under review multiplied by 100.

Approved for Release:

(SGD) ROGELIO T.  LEBRIA
Chief Statistical Specialist
Davao del Sur Provincial Statistical Office