The overall inflation in Davao Oriental eased to -1.7 percent in February 2025 from 0.8 percent in January 2025. This brings the provincial average inflation from January to February 2025 to -0.5 percent. In February 2024, the inflation rate was higher at 6.9 percent. (Tables A and B, and Figure 1)

The downtrend in the overall inflation in February 2025 was primarily brought about by the faster annual decline of food and non-alcoholic beverages at -3.4 percent in February 2025 from 1.4 percent in the previous month. Also contributing to the downtrend was transport with a faster an annual decline of -4.2 percent during the month from -3.3 percent in January 2025. 

Moreover, lower annual increments were noted in the indices of the following commodity groups during the month:

a. Clothing and footwear, 2.9 percent from 3.8 percent; 

b. Recreation, sport and culture, 2.6 percent from 4.1 percent; 

c. Personal care and miscellaneous goods and services, 2.8 percent from 2.9 percent; and 

d. Furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance, 2.3 percent from 2.4 percent.

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

a. Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, -0.2 percent from -1.3 percent; 

b. Health, 0.5 percent from 0.4 percent; and 

c. Restaurants and accommodation services, 1.1 percent from 0.6 percent.

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

Food inflation at the provincial level eased to-3.8 percent in February 2025 from 1.4 percent in the previous month. In February 2024, food inflation was higher at 9.3 percent. (Table D)

The deceleration of food inflation in February 2025 was primarily brought about by the slower inflation rate of fish and other seafood at -5.5 percent during the month from 6.2 percent in January 2025. This was followed by the faster year-on-year decline of vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses at -10.9 percent during the month from 22.7 percent annual increase in January 2025. 

In addition, lower inflation rates during the month were noted in the indices of the following food items: 

a. Rice, -5.9 percent from -4.4 percent; 

b. Corn, -20.8 percent form -20.5 percent

c. Flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals, 1.0 percent from 2.2 percent; 

d. Milk, other dairy products and eggs, 2.2 percent from 2.3 percent; 

e. Oils and fats, 3.0 percent from 3.9 percent; and 

f. Ready-made food and other food products n.e.c., 3.6 percent from 4.1 percent.

On the contrary, higher annual growth rates during the month were observed in the indices of the following food groups: 

a. Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals, 5.2 percent from 3.3 percent; 

b. Fruits and nuts, 0.9 percent from -1.8 percent; and 

c. Sugar, confectionery and desserts, 6.5 percent from -0.8 percent. (Table D)

In February 2025, all provinces and the highly urbanized city in the Davao Region recorded a downtrend in their inflation rates during the month relative to their respective annual rates in January 2025. Davao Oriental reported the lowest inflation rate at -1.7 percent, while City of Davao recorded the highest at 1.8 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. 

As of February 2025, the purchasing power of the peso (PPP) in Davao Oriental remained at 0.77, indicating that PhP1.00 in 2018 is now equivalent to PhP0.77. The PPP in February 2024 was lower at 0.75. (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 

Chief Statistical Specialist