Western Visayas inflation up in January

ILOILO CITY – The inflation rate in Western Visayas went up in January, the Philippine Statistics Authority-6 said.

Nida Amolar, PSA-6 officer-in-charge and chief statistical specialist, said the inflation rate was up 0.2 percent to 3.6 percent in January from 3.4 percent in December.

PEOPLE purchase goods in a public market in Iloilo City. (Tara Yap)

“The uptrend in the Western Visayas inflation rate in January 2025 was mainly due to the faster annual growth in the index of food and non-alcoholic beverages,” said Amolar.

The price index for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose to 3.4 percent last month from 2.8 percent in December.

The rise in inflation was attributed to the increase in the cost of transportation to 2.2 percent in January from 1.8 percent in December.

Iloilo province had the highest inflation rate in January at 5.4 percent. Iloilo City, the regional capital of Western Visayas, had a 5.1 percent inflation rate.

Bacolod City recorded an inflation rate of 3.3 percent. Both the provinces of Guimaras and Negros Occidental logged a 3.3 percent inflation rate. The provinces of Aklan and Antique had the lowest inflation rate for the first month of the year at 2.3 percent.