21 May 2025– Guimaras. Inflation for Guimaras’ bottom 30% income households eased further to 0.2% in April 2025, continuing its downward trend from 0.7% in March and a sharp drop from 8.6% in April 2024, bringing the average inflation to 1.6%, based on the latest price statistics of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

“The slow inflation in April 2025 for the low income HHs was primarily influenced by the dwindling year-on-year price changes in the heavily weighted food and non alcoholic beverages at -1.8% during the month, from 0.0% in March 2025,” Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare said.

“The decreasing inflation rate of furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance at 0.2% in April 2025 from 1.2% in the previous month and personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services at 1.0% from 1.6% also contributed to the slower overall inflation of the bottom 30% income HH,” Losare added.

The Food and non-alcoholic beverages commodity group shared 95.1% of the downtrend of April inflation, while furnishings, household equipment and routine, household maintenance and personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services spliced 2.1% and 1.5%, respectively.

“From March to April 2025, the food and non-alcoholic beverages; furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance; and personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services were mainly pushed by the slower price movement of rice with -11.0% inflation from -4.6%, non-durable household goods with 0.7% from 1.8%, and other appliances, articles and products for personal care with 1.7% from 2.5%, correspondingly,” Losare said.

Also, slower annual indices were noted in recreation, sport and culture, -0.1% from 1.2%, and clothing and footwear, 1.3% from 1.5%,

In contrast, four commodity groups showed faster inflation rates in April 2025 than in March 2025: a. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 10.2% from 10.1%, 

b. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, 1.3 % from 0.6%, 

c. Transport, 0.8% from -0.1%, and 

d. Restaurants and accommodation services, 10.3% from -3.2%

While health (2.7%), information and communication (5.5%), education services (0.0%), financial services (0.0 %), and financial services (0.0 %), retained their previous month’s annual rates.

Moreover, in April 2025, the overall inflation rate for low-income HHs in Guimaras was primarily influenced by alcoholic beverages and tobacco with a 257.5% contribution to the province’s inflation rate, or 0.41 percentage points, with the notable 9.7% annual price increase in Cigarettes.

Restaurants and accommodation services followed closely with a 164.4% impact on the overall Guimaras inflation, or 0.33 percentage points, with a noteworthy bearing from Restaurants, café and the like - with full service—showing an inflation rate of 10.3%.

Lastly, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels also noted a significant effect on the overall 57.5% inflation of the province, or 0.12 percentage points, with a substantial weight from electricity from all sources (coal, solar, hydro, etc.)—displaying an inflation rate of 0.9%.

Over the past 13 months, inflation rates for low-income households across Western Visayas declined, with Guimaras standing out for its gradual and consistent slowdown—from a high of 8.8% in May 2024 to just 0.2% in April 2025.

While provinces like Aklan and Antique experienced sharp drops, even entering negative inflation in April 2025, others such as Capiz and Iloilo followed a steadier path of decline. The data reflects diverse inflation trends across the region, with Guimaras showing the most stable and sustained easing.

“The Inflation Rate is the rate of change in the CPI derived by computing the indices relative to the same period in the previous year or month, and currently, Guimaras Province posted a 133.6 CPI, translating that a typical low-income Guimarasnon needs 1,336.00 pesos in April 2025 to purchase a basket of goods and services worth 1000 pesos in 2018," Losare clarified.