The headline inflation in the province of Capiz for the bottom 30% income households declined from 5.8 percent in June 2024 to 5.4 percent in July 2024. This brings the average inflation for this income group from January to July 2024 to 4.5 percent. In July 2023, the inflation rate was lower at 2.0 percent. (Table A and Figure 1)

The main driver of the downward trend of the overall inflation for this income group in July 2024 was the slower year-on-year growth of the following commodity groups: 

a. Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels, from 4.3 to 2.1 percent 

b. Food and non-alcoholic beverages, from 8.6 to 8.3 percent; and 

c. Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance, from 1.6 to 1.4 percent

In contrast, higher annual increments were noted in the indices of the following commodity groups during the month:

a. Education Services, 5.5 percent from 1.3 percent; 

b. Recreation, Sport and Culture from 4.1 percent from 2.2 percent; 

c. Transport, 0.6 percent from -0.4 percent; 

d. Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, 2.0 percent from 1.7 percent; and 

e. Health, 1.0 percent from 0.9 percent

The indices of the rest of the commodity groups retain their respective previous month’s annual rates. (Table B and Table C)

Food inflation for the bottom 30% income households at the provincial level declined further to 8.8 percent in July 2024 from 9.3 percent in the previous month. In July 2023 the inflation rate was higher at 9.5 percent. (Table B)

The downtrend in the food inflation for the bottom 30% income households was mainly due to the slower annual growth rate of rice at 22.0 percent during the month from the 23.7 percent annual increase in June 2024. Also contributing to the downtrend is the Fish and Other Seafood index with a slower annual decrease of -1.8 percent from its -0.8 percent yearly decline in June 2024. Also contributing to the deceleration of food inflation for the bottom 30% income households is the corn index, which was at 4.1 percent in July 2024 compared to 4.9 percent in June 2024.

On the contrary, the uptrend annual increases during the month were recorded in the Vegetables, Tubers, Cooking Bananas and Pulses indices at 3.3 percent in July 2024 from 2.4 percent in June 2024. Also, Meat and Other Parts of Slaughtered Land Animals posted an annual increase of 20.8 percent in July 2024 from 20.2 in the previous month. (Table B)