Western Visayas has recorded its highest inflation rate for 2022 at 10.5 percent in December, increasing from 9.6 percent in November of the same year.
This is the region’s highest monthly inflation rate for 2022 and the peak, to date, since November 2008 when an inflation rate of 11.1 percent was reported.
According to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) 6, the average inflation from January to December 2022 in Western Visayas stood at 6.6 percent, almost a half higher compared to a 3.5 percent recorded in December 2021.
The upward trend in the generated Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the last month of 2022 was primarily caused by the faster year-on-year growth rate in the index of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels of 14.2 percent, from 11.7 percent in November 2022, per report.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages as well as personal care and miscellaneous goods and services have increased in the previous month with a recorded inflation rate of 11.1 percent from 10.1 percent, and 6.3 percent from 5.8 percent, respectively.
Likewise, food inflation in the region went up, capping the year which is at 11.4 percent from 10.4 percent in November.
The uptrend in food inflation was influenced mainly by higher annual growth in the food sub-groups of vegetables, tubers, plantains, and cooking bananas which pulses at 24.1 percent; sugar, confectionery and desserts at 44.2 percent, and milk, other dairy products, and eggs at 9.6 percent, a press release from PSA 6 issued on January 6 cited.
To note, except for Guimaras, the five other provinces have reported an uptrend in inflation rates for the last two months of the year 2022.
With this, Negros Occidental recorded the highest monthly inflation rate of 12.3 percent, while Aklan had the lowest at 7.7 percent.
Meanwhile, among the highly urbanized cities in the region, Iloilo City showed an acceleration to 13.5 percent inflation in December 2022 from 12.4 percent in the previous month.JBG/AGP/PIA 6
