Consumer Price Index

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) of Ilocos Region for January 2021 posted at 125.7 in which it has a negligible increase of 0.32 index point from December 2020 and 3.7 index point with respect to January 2020. This means that on the average, prices of goods and services in the region have increased by 25.7 percent from the base year 2012.   

The region’s CPI was recorded at 121.2 in January 2020 and 125.3 in December 2020.   

By Province

Among the provinces, Ilocos Norte posted the highest price index in January 2021 at 128.7, followed by Pangasinan at 128.0 and Ilocos Sur at 121.7. Meanwhile, La Union recorded the lowest price index at 118.8 in the same period.

In January 2020, Pangasinan recorded the highest price index at 123.6, Ilocos Norte at 123.2, Ilocos Sur at 117.5 and La Union at 114.4.

By Commodity Group

The top three commodity groups that recorded high price indices
in the region in January 2021 were: alcoholic beverages and tobacco (230.7); food and non-alcoholic beverages (136.3); and furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house (125.1). 
On the other hand, the bottom three commodity groups with low price indices were: communication (101.7); transport (106.5); and recreation and culture (110.9). (see Table 1)

Inflation Rate

Inflation rate in the Ilocos Region settled at 3.7 percent in January 2021. Its annual rate in December 2020 is 3.6 percent while 2.6 percent in January 2021. (see Figure 3)

The inflation rate of the region increased by 0.1 percentage point from December 2020 to January 2021. Meanwhile, inflation rate in January 2021 is higher by 1.1 percentage points compared to January 2020.

It can be manifested in Figure 3 that the highest inflation rate in the region was recorded in November 2020 at 3.8 percent. Meanwhile, the lowest inflation rate was noted in the month of May 2020 at 2.2 percent.

By Province

Among the provinces in the region, Ilocos Norte posted the highest inflation rate at 4.5 percent in January 2021. This was followed by La Union at 3.8 percent. In contrast, the lowest inflation rate was observed in Ilocos Sur and Pangasinan, both at 3.6 percent.

Ilocos Sur and La Union posted an increase in their inflation rate from December 2020 to January 2021 at 0.6 and 0.8 respectively. On the other hand, Pangasinan posted a decrease of at 0.2 percentage point in the same period, while Ilocos Norte sustained its inflation rate.

By Commodity Group

By commodity group, alcoholic beverages and tobacco recorded the highest inflation rate in Ilocos Norte, La Union and Pangasinan. In Ilocos Sur, the highest inflation rate was registered in the transport commodity. Meanwhile, transport commodities recorded the lowest inflation rate in Ilocos Norte. Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels posted the lowest inflation rate in Ilocos Sur and La Union, while recreation and culture in Pangasinan.

Among the provinces, La Union posted the highest PPP in January 2021 with Php 0.84. This was followed by Ilocos Sur with Php 0.82 PPP. Meanwhile, the least was recorded both in Ilocos Norte and Pangasinan with Php 0.78.

It can be gleaned in Figure 5 that PPPs in all the provinces went down from January 2020 to January 2021, all at Php 0.03.