CITY OF DAVAO

1. Headline Inflation

In February 2025, the headline inflation rate in Davao City decreased at 1.8 percent, reflecting a 0.9 percentage points decrease from the January 2024 rate of 2.7 percent. Notably, the current inflation rate was 2.6 percentage points lower than the figure reported in February 2024 at 4.4 percent. (Table A and Figure 1).

1.1 Main Drivers Contributing to the Decreased Headline Inflation

Among the major commodity groups, the lower headline inflation in February 2025 was primarily brought about by the decrease in the index of a) Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels at negative 1.2 percent, from 1.0 percent in the previous month. Also contributing to the city’s decreasing trend of headline inflation was b) Transport at negative 1.8 percent, from 1.5 percent in January 2024. The third major contributor to the decreased inflation was c) Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages at 3.3 percent, from 3.8 percent in the last month.

Compared to their annual rates in the previous month, lower year-on-year inflation rates were also observed in the following commodity groups:

d) Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services at 3.2 percent, from 3.7 percent in the previous month;
e) Furnishings, Household Equipment, and Routine Household Maintenance at 2.9 percent, from 3.4 percent in the previous month.
f) Clothing and Footwear at 3.0 percent, from 3.4 percent in the previous month; and
g) Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco at 4.5 percent, from 4.9 percent in the previous month.

Meanwhile, an increasing movement of prices was observed in the city of the following commodity groups:

a) Health at 2.2 percent, from 1.9 percent in the previous month;
b) Information and Communication at 0.3 percent, from negative 0.5 percent in the previous month; and
c) Recreation, Sport, and Culture at 4.8 percent, from 4.4 percent in the previous month.

On the other hand, the inflation rates for the rest of the commodity groups remained unchanged.

2. Food Inflation 

Meanwhile, the city’s food inflation decreased to 3.4 percent in February 2025 from 3.8 percent in the previous month. The decrease was mainly due to a) Cereals and cereal products at a negative 1.2 percent, from 0.6 percent in the previous month. This was followed by b) Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses at 3.5 percent, from 11.0 percent in the previous month; and c) Fruits and nuts at 2.4 percent, from 3.0 percent in the previous month.

In contrast, increasing rates in food inflation were observed in the following food commodities:

a) Fish and other seafood at 11.0 percent, from 9.8 percent in the previous month; 
b) Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals at 4.6 percent, from 3.9 percent in the previous month;
c) Milk, other dairy products, and eggs at 2.0 percent from 0.2 percent in the previous month;
d) Sugar, confectionery, and desserts at 0.9 percent from negative 1.8 percent in the previous month;
e) Oils and fats at negative 2.2 percent from negative 6.4 percent in the previous month; and
f) Ready-made food and other food products at 9.7 percent from 9.5 percent in the previous month.

3. Purchasing Power of Peso 

The Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) in Davao City for February 2025 remained unchanged at 0.76, same as the previous month’s PPP, as presented in Figure 2. This translates that to purchase the same set of goods and services that cost Php100.00 in 2018, one would require Php131.4 in February 2025.

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 yearon-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:

ADELINE G. BATUCAN
(Supervising Statistical Specialist)
Officer-In-Charge
Davao del Sur Provincial Statistical Office