DAVAO City – The inflation rate for households belonging to the bottom 30-percent income in the Davao Region dropped to 0.8 percent in January, down from 1.1 percent in December 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority-11 (PSA-11) reported Tuesday.
The January 2025 figure is significantly lower than the 3.9 percent inflation rate recorded in the same month last year.
PSA-11 attributed the decline to slower price increases in key commodity groups. Food and non-alcoholic beverages saw a deflation of -0.1 percent, down from 0.4 percent in December, while housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels recorded a deflation of -0.3 percent, down from 0.7 percent.
However, some commodity groups experienced faster price movements, including alcoholic beverages and tobacco (3.7 percent, up from 3.3 percent) and clothing and footwear (3.3 percent, up from 3.2 percent).
Inflation rates for health (2.9 percent), education services (2.7 percent), and restaurants and accommodation services (5.8 percent) remained unchanged from the previous month.
Food inflation for low-income households also declined, dropping to -0.3 percent from 0.2 percent in December. This contrasts sharply with the 8.5 percent food inflation recorded in January 2024.
The downtrend in food inflation was driven by lower prices for cereals and cereal products (-6.6 percent, down from -3.8 percent), as well as slower price increases for milk and dairy products (3.9 percent, down from 4.5 percent), fish and seafood (4.2 percent, down from 4.4 percent), ready-made food (6.3 percent, down from 6.5 percent), and fruits and nuts (2.4 percent, down from 2.5 percent).
The data reflect easing price pressures for essential goods, providing some relief to low-income households in the region. (PNA)
