News Details

Eastern Visayas inflation decelerates in February

NPO

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March 13, 2025

PNA

TACLOBAN CITY – Annual rate of price increases in Eastern Visayas slowed to 1.1 percent in February 2025 from month-ago’s 1.3 percent, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Wednesday.

This is the fourth slowest inflation rate (IR) among 17 regions in the country recorded in the second month of the year, said PSA Eastern Visayas Director Wilma Perante in a press briefing here.

“The regional IR was lower than the 2.1 percent national IR in February 2025. Moreover, the regional IR in February 2024 was higher at 3.7 percent,” she said.

The slight changes in inflation since December 2024 was largely influenced by slower price changes for rice and other vegetable products.

Slowdown of the IR for food in February 2025 was primarily influenced by the faster annual price decrease of rice at 6.3 percent during the month from its annual price decrease of 4.2 percent in January 2025.

The slower IR for vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses at 6 percent during the month, from 8.7 percent in January 2025, also contributed to the downtrend.

The IR for food index further decreased to 0.6 percent from 0.9 percent in January 2025, Perante said.

Two of the region’s six provinces recorded higher infaltion rate in the second month this year -- Leyte, 1.5 percent from the previous 1.1 percent, and Biliran at 1.6 percent from 1.1 percent in the previous month.

Provinces that posted lower inflation rates are Eastern Samar, from 3 percent to 1.8 percent; Southern Leyte, from 2.2 percent to 1.1 percent; Northern Samar, from 0.8 percent to 0.7 percent; and Samar, from 0.5 percent to 0.1 percent.