Table A. Year-on-Year Inflation Rates for Zamboanga Peninsula and Zamboanga City, All Items
In Percent
(2018=100)
Zamboanga City
a. Overall Inflation Rate
Headline inflation for Zamboanga City decreased to 1.7 percent in March 2025 from 2.8 percent in February 2025. In March 2024, the inflation rate was comparatively higher at 4.6 percent. This brings the year-to-date inflation in the city to 2.8 percent (Refer to Table A and Figure 1).
1.1 Main Drivers Behind the Downtrend of the Overall Inflation Rate for Zamboanga City
The main drivers on the downtrend of the overall inflation in March 2025 was primarily driven by the slower annual increment of the commodity group, Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels, which stood at 5.2 percent from 8.4 percent inflation in February 2025. In addition, the decrease in prices in the indices of Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages at 0.7 percent from 1.4 percent, and Transport, with (3.4) percent from (1.6) percent also contributed to the decrease of the overall inflation rate in Zamboanga City. In addition, lower annual increments were also observed in the following commodity
groups:
a. Restaurants and Accommodation Services at 2.7 percent from 3.2 percent;
b. Information and Communication, 0.1 percent from 0.7 percent;
c. Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, 0.7 percent from 1.3 percent inflation in the previous month,
d. Recreation, Sport and Culture, 2.8 percent from 3.9 percent; and,
e. Health, which stood at 2.8 percent from 2.9 percent inflation.
On the contrary, the following commodity groups registered higher inflation rates:
a. Furnishings, Household Equipment, and Routine Household Maintenance, 3.4 percent from 1.0 percent; and,
b. Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services at 1.9 percent in March 2025 from 1.8 percent in February 2025.
Meanwhile, the following commodity groups retained their previous month’s inflation rates:
a. Clothing and Footwear, with 0.8 percent;
b. Education Services, 5.8 percent;
c. Financial Services, 0.0 percent;
1.2 Main Contributors to the Overall Inflation Rate
The top three (3) commodity groups contributing to the overall inflation rate in Zamboanga City were the following:
a. Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels, contributing 62.9 percent share or 1.1 percentage points;
b. Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages contributing 19.4 percent share or 0.3 percentage point; and,
c. Restaurants and Accommodation Services 9.5 percent share or 0.2 percentage point.
Table B. Year-on- Year Inflation Rates in Zamboanga City, All Items, In percent
January 2021 – March 2025
(2018=100)
Table C. Year-On-Year Inflation Rates by Commodity Groups in Zamboanga City for all Income Households, 2018=100
Food Inflation
Food inflation in Zamboanga City for March 2025 decreased to 0.7 percent from 1.3 percent in February 2024. On the other hand, the food inflation in March 2024 was higher, which stood at 7.0 percent inflation.
1.1 The Main Drivers Behind the Downtrend of Food Inflation
The main drivers in the downtrend of food inflation in March 2025 was brought by the slower annual growth rate of the food index of Cereals and cereal products, which recorded (9.2) percent from (6.3) percent inflation during the previous month. In addition, the decrease in prices of the food indices of Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals at 4.5 percent from 7.8 percent inflation, and Ready-made food and other food products n.e.c. at 3.3 percent from 5.8 percent also contributed to the lower food inflation.
On the contrary, higher year-on-year growth rates were observed in the following food commodities:
a. Fish and other seafood, 1.7 percent from 0.3 percent;
b. Milk, other dairy products and eggs at 2.5 percent from 2.0 percent;
c. Fruits and nuts, 31.1 percent from 29.2 percent;
d. Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses, 11.1 percent from 6.2 percent; and,
e. Sugar, confectionery and desserts, with 4.3 percent in March 2025 from 3.0 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/RRM/kxbl
