ILOILO CITY – The inflation rate in Western Visayas dropped 1.2 percent from 6.6 percent in September to 5.4 percent in October, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-6 said.

VENDORS sell fruits and vegetables at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol grounds. (Tara Yap)
“The downtrend in the headline inflation in October 2023 was mainly brought about by the slower annual increase in the heavily weighted index of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 8.9 percent in October from 10.5 percent in the previous month,” said Nelida Amolar, PSA-6 officer-in-charge and chief statistical specialist.
Other factors were the decrease in prices for housing, water, electricity, and gas and other fuels.
Last month’s inflation rate was 2.6 percent lower than the same month last year with eight percent.
Negros Occidental still has the highest inflation rate in Western Visayas last month with 7.8 percent.
This city, the regional capital, has the lowest inflation rate in October with 2.7 percent.
Bacolod City has a 6.4 percent inflation rate, 5.8 percent in Capiz, 4.6 percent in Guimaras, 4.6 percent in Antique, four percent in Aklan, and 3.7 percent in Iloilo.