LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – The rate of price increases in the Ilocos Region decelerated to 1.5 percent last January from the previous month’s 2.3 percent, driven by slower inflation rates of the food and non-alcoholic beverages.
"Food index in Ilocos Region decreased to 4.7 percent in January 2024 from 5.7 percent from the previous month," Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Ilocos Region chief administrative officer Camille Carla Beltran said in a statement on Wednesday.
Beltran identified the other factors for the slower inflation rate in the first month this year, including smaller annual expansion in the prices of alcoholic beverages; clothing and footwear; furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance; health; transport; information and communication; recreation, sport and culture; restaurant and accommodation services; and personal care and miscellaneous goods, and services.
However, she cited the acceleration in the inflation rate for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels and education services while that of the financial services did not change.
La Union posted the highest inflation rate in the region at 3.1 percent, followed by Pangasinan, 2.1 percent; and Ilocos Norte, 0.8 percent; while Ilocos Sur posted a deflation of -2.4 percent. (PNA)
