Consumer Price Index

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) of Ilocos Region in April 2021 was posted at 126.8. This means that on the average, prices of goods and services in the region increased by 26.8 percent from the base year 2012.    

The region’s CPI was recorded at 121.3 in April 2020 and 126.6  in March 2021.    

Among the provinces, Pangasinan posted the highest price index in April 2021 at 130.0. It has increased by 5.8 percent from the April 2020 index. Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur followed with 128.1 and 123.3, respectively. Both provinces have increased price indices of 1.8 percent and 4.7 percent compared to their respective levels a year ago. Meanwhile, La Union has the lowest price index of 117.5, an increase of 2.0 percent from the April 2020 price index.

By Commodity Group

The top three commodity groups that recorded high price indices  in the region in April 2021 were: alcoholic beverages and tobacco (236.2); food and non-alcoholic beverages (136.9); and furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house (126.8).   On the other hand, the bottom three commodity groups with low price indices were: communication (101.8); transport (108.9); and recreation and culture and education both at 111.3. 

As shown in Figure 3, the inflation rate in the Ilocos Region settled at 4.5 percent in April 2021. Its annual rate in the previous month was 4.4 percent while 2.6 percent in April 2020.

It was manifested that the highest inflation rate in the region  was recorded in February 2021 at 4.6 percent. Meanwhile, the lowest inflation rate was noted in the month of May 2020 at 2.2 percent.

The inflation rate of the region went up by 0.1 percentage point  from March 2021 to April 2021. Compared from April 2020, inflation rate in April 2021 is higher by 1.9 percentage points.

By Province

Among the provinces in the region, Pangasinan posted the highest inflation rate at 5.8 percent in April 2021. Ilocos Sur followed at 4.7 percent. Inflation rates in La Union and Ilocos Norte were pegged at 2.0 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.

Compared to their respective levels in April 2020, Ilocos Sur and Pangasinan recorded higher inflation rates. Pangasinan has the highest increase of 3.6 percentage points. Compared to previous month, Ilocos Norte and La Union recorded decreases in their inflation rate from 3.4 to 1.8 and 2.6 to 2.0, respectively.

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

Among the provinces, La Union posted the highest PPP in April 2021 with Php 0.85. This was followed by Ilocos Sur with Php 0.81 PPP.  Meanwhile, the least were recorded in Ilocos Norte and Pangasinan with Php 0.78 and Php 0.77, respectively.

It can be gleaned in Figure 5 that PPPs in all the provinces went down from April 2020 to April 2021 by Php 0.01 in Ilocos Norte, Php 0.02 in La Union, and Php 0.04 in Ilocos Sur and Pangasinan.