Table A. Year-on-Year Inflation Rates, All Items In Percent 
(2018=100)  

Inflation is the rate of increase in prices over a given period of time. It is a decrease in the purchasing power of peso, reflected in a general increase in the prices of goods and services in an economy.

Inflation Rate in the province of Quirino decelerated at 1.5 percent in December 2024 from 2.4 percent in November 2024. Inflation in December 2023 was higher at 3.5 percent compared with the 1.5 percent in December 2024.

Also, inflation in Quirino is lower by 3.1 percent with Cagayan Valley’s inflation at 4.6 percent. Quirino also posted a lower inflation rate by 1.4 percent compared with the entire country’s inflation at 2.9 percent. (Table A)
 

The overall inflation rate in the province of Quirino was mainly brought about by the annual decreased in the index for Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages, at 3.3 percent, Clothing and Footwear at 7.3 percent, and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels at -6.0 percent.

In addition, contributing to the downtrend in the overall inflation rate of the province during the month were: 

a. Recreation, Sport and Culture, at 0.4 percent;
b. Restaurant and Accommodation Services, at 2.9 percent; and
c. Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, at 5.5 percent

On the other hand, three (5) commodity groups exhibited an uptrend in the year-on-year growth of their indices which include the following:

a. Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, at 5.7 percent;
b. Furnishings, Household Equipment And Routine Household Maintenance, at 3.3 percent;
c. Health, at 5.7 percent;
d. Transport, at -1.9 percent; and
a. Information and Communication, at -3.2 percent

The rest of the commodity groups either retained their previous month’s inflation rates or had zero percent annual growths. (Table B)
 

For food index, it decreased further by 2.8 percent in December 2024, from 3.3 percent in the previous month. In December 2023, food index was higher at 7.6 percent compared with 2.8 percent in December 2024. (Table C)

The following food groups exhibited lower rate during the month:
a. Meat and Other, at 3.9 percent;
b. Fruits and Nuts, at 1.6 percent; and
c. Ready-Made Food and Other Food Products N.E.C., 3.5 percent

The following food groups exhibited higher rate during the month:
a. Corn, at 3.1 percent;
b. Flour, Bread and Other, at 3.0 percent;
d. Fish and Other Seafood, at 2.9 percent; and
e. Vegetables, tubers etc., at 46.2 percent

The following food groups exhibited negative rate during the month:
a. Rice, at -12.0 percent; and 
b. Oils and Fats, at -7.1 percent;

The following food groups exhibited positive from negative rate during the month:

c. Sugar, Confectionery and Desserts, at 0.3 percent

The following food groups exhibited negative from positive rate during the month:

a. Milk, other dairy products and eggs, at -2.9 percent
 

In terms of the trend, it can be observed from Table D that the inflation for December from 2022 to 2024 exhibited a downtrend inflation. From 9.8 percent in 2022, inflation was decelerated in 2023 at 3.5 percent and finally settled at 1.5 percent in 2024. The higher overall inflation rate in December 2024 resulted to the average inflation of 3.7 percent for the initial month of the fourth quarter.

DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTS

Price
Is the amount or value paid in exchange for the commodity or a service rendered.

Retail Consumer Price
refers to the price at which a commodity is sold in small quantities for consumption.

Market Basket
a term used to refer to a sample of goods and services that are commonly purchased and bought by an average Filipino household.

Consumer Price lndex (CPl)
it is an indicator of the change in the average retail prices of a fixed basket of goods and services commonly purchased by an average Filipino household. lt shows how much on the average, prices of goods and services have increased or decreased from a particular reference period known as base year.

lnflation Rate
is an indicator derived from the CPl. lt refers to the annual rate of change or the year-on-year change of the CPI expressed in percent. lnflation is interpreted in terms of declining purchasing power of money.

Weight
a value attached to a commodity or group of commodities depending on the magnitude of its contribution to the index.

Base Period
a reference date at which the index is equal to 100. Base year is 2018.

lndex Methodology
a Laspeyre's formula: fixed base year and weights.

Purchasing Power of the Peso (PPP)
the measure of how much the peso in the base period is worth in the current period.

Percentage Change
is a simple mathematical concept that represents the degree of change over time. lt is used for many purposes in finance, often to represent the price change of a security.

Headline lnflation
measures changes in the cost of living based on movements in the prices of a specified basket of major commodities. lt refers to the annual rate of change or the year-on-year change in the Consumer Price lndex (CPl).

ENGR. CHERRY GRACE D. AGUSTIN 
Chief Statistical Specialist