ILOILO CITY – The inflation rate in Western Visayas region for October went up by 0.5 percent to 3.9 percent from 3.4 percent in September.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-6 attributed this to higher prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages.
A vegetable vendor in Iloilo City. (Tara Yap)
“The acceleration in the Western Visayas inflation rate in October 2024 was mainly due to the faster annual growth in the index price of food and non-alcoholic beverages,” Nida Amolar, PSA-6, officer-in-charge and chief statistical specialist.
The index price for food and non-alcoholic beverages went up by one percent to 4.3 percent in October from 3.3 percent in September.
For the second month in a row, Aklan province recorded the lowest inflation rate in October at 3.1 percent.
Iloilo province recorded the highest inflation rate at five percent.
Iloilo City recorded an inflation rate of 4.1 percent; 3.6 percent for Capiz and Guimaras provinces, and 3.5 percent for Negros Occidental province.
The International Monetary Fund defines inflation as the rate of increase in prices over a given period of time.