WV headline inflation accelerated to 3% in February

The headline inflation rate of Western Visayas accelerated to 3 percent in February from 2.3 percent in January, but still lower than the 3.1 percent rate in the same month in 2025, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday, March 12.

PSA data showed the steady increase in the inflation rate since September 2025, after registering -0.3 percent in August of the same year.

For the first two months of 2026, the average inflation was 2.6 percent.

Of the 13 commodity groups that were monitored, only one registered slower inflation, two retained their January rate, and the rest recorded an uptrend.

According to the PSA, the uptrend in overall inflation in February was mainly due to the faster annual growth in the index of restaurants and accommodations services commodity group, with an inflation rate of 14.9 percent from 8.9 percent in January.

This was followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages, with 1.6 percent inflation from 1.1 percent in January.

The housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels commodity group also contributed to the upward trend in headline inflation, with its 3.5 percent rate from 2.6 percent in January.

PSA Regional Director for Western Visayas Nelida Amolar said the top three commodity groups that contributed to the 3 percent headline inflation were restaurants and accommodation services, with 24.8 percent share; food and non-alcoholic beverages, which registered a 23.6 percent share; and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, with 20.1 percent share.

She also reported that all provinces, except Capiz, registered an upward inflation trend; with Iloilo having the highest inflation rate at 3.8 percent, and Guimaras registering the lowest at 0.4 percent.

“The highly urbanized city of Iloilo registered an acceleration to 2.9 percent from the 2.4 percent inflation rate recorded in the previous month,” she added.

Meanwhile, Amolar said the impact of the movement of fuel prices due to the Middle East crisis will be known during the inflation report for March, which will be reported in April.PNA