This report presents the Headline Inflation Rate (IR) for all income households in the province of Cavite during the month of August 2023.

Inflation Rate (IR) is the annual rate of change or the year-on-year change of the CPI expressed in percent. Inflation is interpreted in terms of declining purchasing power of money.

Headline inflation in the Province of Cavite soared to 6.1 percent for the month of August 2023, higher by 0.9 percent compared to last month’s inflation rate of 5.2 percent. With this month’s inflation, the province’s average inflation from January to August 2023 stood at 6.8 percent (see Table 1 and Figure 1).

The acceleration in the province’s inflation rate for the month of August 2023 was primarily due to the higher annual growth rate in the index for Food and Non – Alcoholic Beverages commodity group with 9.2% inflation compared to 7.4% inflation last July. Also contributing to the uptrend in the overall inflation of August 2023 were the increased in the indices of the following commodity groups:

• Transport, -0.6 percent
• Information and Communication, -0.4 percent
• Personal Care, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services, 5.8 percent
• Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance, 5.0 percent

On the other hand, the following commodity groups showed lower annual change:

• Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, 14.6 percent
• Clothing and Footwear, 7.1 percent
• Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels, 8.2 percent
• Health, 0.7 percent
• Recreation, Sports and Culture, 6.3 percent
• Education Services, 0.2 percent

Meanwhile, Restaurants and Accommodation Services (3.1 percent) and Financial Services (0.0 percent) were stable this month.

For food inflation, it increased by 1.9 percent for the month of August 2023, with 9.2 percent inflation compared to its previous month’s inflation of 7.3 percent (see Table 3).

The annual growth rate of the following food groups exhibited higher annual increments during the month:

• Cereals and cereal products, 8.4
• Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals, -1.7 percent
• Fish and other seafoods, 9.7 percent
• Fruits and vegetables juices, 10.9 percent
• Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses, 41.7 percent
• Coffee and coffee substitutes, 10.0 percent
• Tea, mate, and other plant products for infusion, 13.8 percent
• Water, 9.6 percent

Meanwhile, the inflation of the following food group decreased this month:

• Milk, other dairy products and eggs, 9.3 percent
• Oils and Fats, -5.2 percent
• Sugar, confectionery and desserts, 17.4 percent
• Ready-made food and other food products n.e.c., 6.6 percent
• Fruit and vegetables juices, 7.3 percent
• Soft drinks, 11.9 percent
• Other non-alcoholic beverages, 7.2 percent

Lastly, Inflation for Rice accelerated at 6.0 percent while Corn decelerated to 20.0 percent during August 2023 compared to 1.7 percent and 25.6 percent last July 2023 respectively.