The inflation rate in the Bicol Region slowed to 1.0% in August from 1.7% in July, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA-5) on Tuesday.
Rey Merjilla, PSA-5 chief statistician specialist, said the region’s average inflation from January to August stood at 2%.
The decline was mainly driven by lower costs of housing, water, electricity, and fuel, which dropped from 3.1% in July to -0.3% in August. Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages also fell from 0.2% to -0.4%, while education services decreased from 2.7% to 1.4%.
Despite the slowdown, inflation was still influenced by restaurants and accommodation services, personal care and miscellaneous goods, and health services. The top five contributors in August were pig meat, restaurants and cafes, rental costs, other pelagic fish, and freshwater fish.
Among Bicol’s six provinces, Sorsogon recorded the lowest inflation at -0.6%, down from 1.8%, while Catanduanes posted the highest rate at 3.0%, up from 2.1%.
The rest of the provinces reported the following rates: Camarines Norte (0.4%), Albay (1.3%), Masbate (0.7%), and Camarines Sur (1.2%).
Inflation measures the annual rate of change in consumer prices and reflects the declining purchasing power of money.