Inflation Rate in Bicol Drops to 4.7% in October

Manila – The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in Bicol announced on Thursday a decrease in the region’s inflation rate, which fell from 5.6 percent in September to 4.7 percent in October this year. This represents a significant drop from the 7.2 percent inflation rate recorded in the same month last year, with the average inflation rate from January to October 2023 standing at 6.1 percent.

According to Philippines News Agency, the deceleration in October’s inflation rate was primarily attributed to the slower price increase of food and non-alcoholic beverages. The top three commodity groups contributing to the overall inflation in October were food and non-alcoholic beverages, restaurants and accommodation services, and clothing and footwear. Perdiz highlighted that food inflation at the regional level decreased to 8.3 percent in October from 10.7 percent in September. This reduction was largely influenced by lower increases in prices of vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas, and pulses, as well as rice. Inflation is defined as the annual rate of change or the year-on-year change of the consumer price index, expressed in percentage terms, and reflects the declining purchasing power of money.