The inflation in Davao Oriental continued to exhibit a slower pace of 4.3 percent in January 2024. This is the lowest inflation rate since the 4.1 percent inflation rate recorded in March 2022. Inflation rate was recorded at 6.0 percent in December 2023, while it was 10.0 percent in January 2023. (Tables A and B, and Figure 1)

The downtrend in the overall inflation in January 2024 was primarily due to slower annual increase in the index of the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 4.2 percent. 

Moreover, annual rates also decelerated in the indices of the following commodity groups during the month:

a. Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, 2.0 percent from 3.6 percent;

 b. Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 7.0 percent from 8.3 percent; 

c. Health, 6.2 percent from 8.0 percent; 

d. Clothing and footwear, 3.7 percent from 4.3 percent; 

e. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 10.0 percent from 10.7 percent; and 

f. Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance, 4.5 percent from 4.9 percent.

The rest of the commodity groups either had faster annual mark-ups or retained their previous month’s annual rates. (Tables C)

 Inflation for food index at the provincial level decelerated to 4.2 percent during the month, from 6.8 percent in December 2023. In January 2023, inflation for food was observed at 10.3 percent. (Table D)

The deceleration of food inflation in January 2024 was primarily influenced by the faster annual decrease recorded in fish and other seafood with inflation rate of -9.5 percent during the month from -4.0 percent in December 2023.

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

a. Milk, other dairy products and eggs, 13.1 percent from 24.5 percent;

 b. Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses, -22.8 percent from -13.3 percent;

 c. Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals, 0.6 percent from 3.7 percent; 

d. Fruits and nuts, 11.4 percent from 13.7 percent; e. Ready-made food and other food products n.e.c., 3.4 percent from 4.1 percent; 

f. Oils and fats, -1.8 percent from 0.0 percent; and 

g. Flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals, 1.8 percent from 3.0 percent

In contrast, higher annual increments were noted in the indices of the following food groups: 

a. Rice, 37.9 percent from 31.7 percent; 

b. Corn, 2.0 percent from -0.3 percent; and 

c. Sugar, confectionery and desserts, -9.2 percent from -12.8 percent. (Table D)

Mixed trends of inflation were observed among the five (5) provinces and one (1) Highly Urbanized City (HUC) in Davao Region during the month relative to their respective December 2023 inflation rates. The lowest inflation was still observed in Davao Del Norte at 1.0 percent, while City of Davao and Davao Occidental registered the highest inflation rate at 5.6 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 dropped to 0.77. This means that the amount of PhP 100.00 in 2018 is equivalent to PhP 77.00 in January 2024. In January 2023, the PPP was higher at 0.81. (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