Consumer Price Index

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is an indicator of the changes in the average retail prices of fixed basket of goods and services commonly purchased by households relative to a base year. BARMM recorded a CPI of 133.2 in February 2021. The region’s CPI is the highest in the entire country during this period.

Figure 1. Monthly Consumer Price Index for All Income Households in the Philippines, by Region: February 2021 and February 2020

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

Survey of Retail Prices of Commodities for the Generation of CPI

Figure 2 shows that commodity groups of ⁽¹⁾Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, ⁽²⁾Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, and ⁽³⁾Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goodsand Services have the highest corresponding CPIs of 183.8, 138.7 and 132.3 in January 2021. On the other hand, ⁽¹⁾Communication, ⁽²⁾Transport and ⁽³⁾Housing,Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels have the lowest CPIs of 102.9, 109.7, and117.7, respectively.

Figure 2. Monthly Consumer Price Index for All Income Households in BARMM, by Commodity Group: February 2021 and February 2020

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

Survey of Retail Prices of Commodities for the Generation of CPI

The Province of Sulu recorded the highest CPI in the region in January 2021 at 138.1, as shown in Figure 3. This was followed by Basilan and Maguindanao with CPIs of 137.0 and 132.3, respectively. Cotabato City has the lowest CPIs among the provinces with 129.1.

Figure 3. Monthly Consumer Price Index for All Income Households in BARMM, by Province: February 2021 and February 2020

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

Survey of Retail Prices of Commodities for the Generation of CPI

Inflation Rate

Figure 4 shows that the inflation rate of BARMM accelerated to 3.0 percent in January 2021 from 2.8 percent inflation rate in December 2020. This implies that the average retail prices of goods and services in the market basket in BARMM increased by 3.0 percent in January 2021 compared to the prices in January 2020.

Figure 4. Year-on-Year Headline Inflation Rate in BARMM, All Items: February 2021 and February 2020

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

Survey of Retail Prices of Commodities for the Generation of CPI

Commodity groups of ⁽¹⁾Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, ⁽²⁾Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages and ⁽³)Health have the highest inflation rates in January 2021 recorded at 6.8 percent, 3.5 percent, and 3.3 percent, respectively. On the other hand, commodity groups of ⁽¹⁾Communication, ⁽²⁾Transport and ⁽³⁾Education have the lowest corresponding inflation rates of 0.2 percent, 0.7 percent, and 1.0 percent. (see Figure 5).

Figure 5. Year-on-Year Headline Inflation Rate in BARMM, All Items, by Commodity Group: February 2021 and February 2020

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

Survey of Retail Prices of Commodities for the Generation of CPI

It is shown in Figure 6 that Maguindanao has the highest inflation rate which is 6.4 percent in January 2021. This is followed by Cotabato City with 6.0 percent. Sulu has the least inflation rate among the provinces with 0.0 percent.

Figure 6. Year-on-Year Headline Inflation Rate in BARMM, All Items, by Province: February 2021 and February 2020

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

Survey of Retail Prices of Commodities for the Generation of CPI

Purchasing Power of Peso

Purchasing Power of Peso (PPP) is inversely related to inflation rate. Thus, as the inflation rate increases, PPP declines, as shown in Figure 7. In BARMM, PPP is at 0.76 as of January 2021. This is 2.6 percent lower than the PPP in January 2020. The 0.76 PPP implies that the Php1.00 in 2012, as the base year, values only Php0.76 in January 2021.

Figure 7. Purchasing Power of Peso in BARMM: as of February 2021

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

Survey of Retail Prices of Commodities for the Generation of CPI

TECHNICAL NOTES

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

The CPI is an indicator of the changes in the average retail prices of a fixed basket of goods and services commonly purchased by households relative to a base year.

Uses of CPI

The CPI is most widely used in the calculation of the inflation rate and purchasing power of peso. It is a major statistical series used for economic analysis and as a monitoring indicator of government economic policy.

Computation of CPI

The computation of the CPI involves consideration of the following important points:

a. Base Period

The reference date or base period is the benchmark or reference date or period at which the index is taken as equal to 100.

b. Market Basket

A sample of the thousands of varieties of goods purchased for consumption and services availed by the households in the country selected to represent the composite price behavior of all goods and services purchased by consumers.

c. Weighting System

The weighting pattern uses the expenditures on various consumer items purchased by households as a proportion to total expenditure.

d. Formula

The formula used in computing the CPI is the weighted arithmetic mean of price relatives, the Laspeyre’s formula with a fixed base year period (2006) weights.

e. Geographic Coverage

CPI values are computed at the national, regional, and provincial levels, and for selected cities.

Inflation Rate is the rate of change of the CPI expressed in percent. Inflation is interpreted in terms of declining purchasing power of peso

Headline Inflation refers to the rate of change in the CPI, a measure of the average standard “basket” of goods and services consumed by a typical family.

Purchasing Power of Peso shows how much the peso in the base period is worth in the current period. It is computed as the reciprocal of the CPI for the period under review multiplied by 100

Note: The dataset used in the special release is exclusive for ARMM plus Cotabato City.