DAVAO Region’s inflation rate in January 2024 settled at 4.4% after rising to 5.3% in December 2023.
This was revealed during the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) XI’s online report on Davao Region’s January 2024 Inflation via Zoom on Jan. 12. The report was presented by PSA XI OIC-regional director Randolph Anthony Gales.
The decrease in the region’s overall inflation was attributed to the slower price movement on food and alcoholic beverages at 7.4% and 53.1% share in the downtrend, from 8.5% in the previous month.
The main driver of the decrease in inflation of food and non-alcoholic beverages was the faster decrease in the price of vegetables, tubers, and plantains, among others, with a negative 10.8% inflation, particularly in onions.
The report also said the slower annual increments of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels at -2.9% from -1.9%, and transport at 0.2% from 1.5% in the previous month.
Lower annual increments were also observed in clothing and footwear at 5.5% from 5.8%, furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance at 4.1% from 4.7%, health at 4.2% from 4.5%, and recreation, sports, and culture at 6.4% from 6.5%.
Decreases were also observed in restaurants and accommodation services (at 10.2% from 10.5%), as well as in personal care and miscellaneous goods and services (at 4.6% from 5.0%).
However, there is a higher inflation for food groups particularly in rice, at 24.8% in January this year from 21.4% in the previous month.
Provinces and highly urbanized cities that had experienced lower inflation rates were Davao del Norte at 1.0% from 2.9%, followed by Davao de Oro at 4.1% from 4.7%, and Davao Oriental at 4.3% from 6.0%.
“The commodity group of Information and Communication at 0.9 percent displayed a faster annual growth rate than 0.8 percent in the previous month. Also, the index for education services retained the previous month’s inflation rate at 4 percent,” Gales added.
