Table A. Year-on-Year Inflation Rates for Zamboanga Peninsula and Zamboanga City, All Items
In Percent   (2018=100)
 

Zamboanga City

Headline inflation in Zamboanga City slowed down further to 4.8 percent in 
April 2023 from 6.3 percent in March 2023. The inflation rate in April 2022 was observed at 3.5 percent. The average inflation rate from January 2023 to April 2023 was recorded at 6.3 percent. (Table A and Figure 1).

The downtrend on the overall inflation in April 2023 was primarily due to the slower increase in the commodity group of Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels with lower inflation rate at 1.8 percent from 5.6 percent in March which is the top contributor in the downtrend of inflation for April 2023. Another driver in the decelerated inflation was Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages recorded at 6.5 percent from 7.7 percent in the previous month and ranked second in the share to inflation trend. The commodity group Transport was the third primary driver in the deceleration of inflation this April 2023 with an inflation rate of 4.2 percent from 6.5 percent in the previous month.

The other commodity groups that contributed to the lower inflation in April 2023 in Zamboanga City:
a.    Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, 8.4 percent 
b.    Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance, 
5.3 percent
c.    Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, 3.3 percent
d.    Recreation, Sport, and Culture, 2.6 percent

Meanwhile, the following commodity groups retained their previous month’s inflation rate:
a.    Clothing and Footwear, 2.7 percent
b.    Health, 3.7 percent
c.    Information and Communication, 0.4 percent
d.    Education Services, 6.1 percent
e.    Restaurants and Accommodation Services, 5.8 percent
f.    Financial Services, 0.0 percent

Table B. Year-on- Year Inflation Rates in Zamboanga City, All Items
In Percent
January 2019 – April 2023
(2018=100)

Table C. Year-On-Year Inflation Rates by Commodity Groups in

 Zamboanga City for all Income Households, 2018=100

Food inflation in Zamboanga City decelerated to 6.9 percent during this month from 
8.3 percent in March 2023. In April 2022, food inflation was recorded at 1.7 percent only.

The primary drivers in the downtrend of food inflation this month was the lower annual growth in the index of Fish and other Seafood at 2.9 percent from 
7.1 percent. This was followed by Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses at 9.3 percent from 16.7 percent and Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals recorded at 6.7 percent from 8.0 percent from the previous month.

The other food groups that exhibited lower inflation rates this April 2023:
a.    Ready-made food and other food products n.e.c., 10.4 percent
b.    Flour, Bread and Other Bakery Products, Pasta Products, and Other Cereals, 6.8 percent 
c.    Oils and Fats, 3.1 percent

On the contrary, higher inflation rates were noted in the following food groups: 
a.    Milk, other dairy products and eggs , 7.3 percent
b.    Fruits and Nuts, 9.3 percent
c.  Sugar, confectionery and desserts, 27.1 percent
d.  Cereals and cereal products, 6.2 percent
e.  Cereals, 5.9 percent
f.    Rice, 5.9 percent
g.   Corn, 4.6 percent

Note: CPIs and inflation rates by province and selected city are posted at the PSA website (http://openstat.psa.gov.ph/).

MEWCHUN WS. PAMARAN
Regional Director

MFET/RMABG/mgcn