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Understanding
the Consumer Price Index
Consumer Price Index (CPI) is an indicator of the change in the average prices of a fixed basket of goods
and services commonly purchased by households relative to a base year. Prices
are compared to a base year and weighted by the appropriate consumption pattern.
When the basket of the reference year no longer represents what the households
commonly purchase, the CPI becomes irrelevant and tends to give wrong market
signals. Hence, it is necessary to update the CPI using a base year that reflects
the typical market basket of the time.
It measures the changes in the price level of goods and services that most people
buy for their day-to-day consumption.
What are the uses of the CPI?
The CPI is most widely used in the calculation of the inflation rate and purchasing
power of the peso. Changes in the CPI over a specific period of time (usually
a month or a year), is the rate of inflation. Inflation is equivalent to a
decline in the purchasing power of peso (PPP). The PPP gives an indication
of the real value of the peso (how much it is worth) in a given period relative
to its value in a base period.
The CPI series, among others, is being used for economic analysis, for collective
bargaining agreements, for wage adjustments, and for monitoring the effects
of government economic policy.
When an inflation rate of 4.6 percent is cited over the media, this usually
refers to the year-on-year inflation rate, which measures the changes in CPI
for the month compared to the CPI of the same month of the previous year.
NSO releases both the year-on-year and the month-on-month inflation rates,
the latter being a comparison of the CPI for the month with that of the immediately
preceding month.
What does low inflation mean?
Contrary to common knowledge, low inflation does not connote that prices of
commodities are falling. It means that prices continue to increase but at
a slow rate.
Are CPI and inflation rate the same?
CPI is the index which measures price changes relative to a base year while
inflation indicates how fast or how slow price changes over two time periods.
Inflation is a derived estimate of the rate of change in the CPIs of two given
periods, e.g, September 2000 vs. September 1999, or September 2000 vs. August
2000.
Which agency is responsible for the generation of the
CPI?
The National Statistics Office (NSO) and the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics
(BAS) collect price data for the index. The BAS is responsible for collecting
prices for agricultural commodities in Metro Manila and in the provinces.
The NSO, on the other hand, collects prices for the non-agricultural commodities
all over the country and all other commodities not covered by BAS. The computation
of the CPI is the sole responsibility of the NSO.
source: http://www.census.gov.ph
 |
LATEST FIGURES
AND DATA |
 |
| YEAR/MONTH |
CPI |
IR |
PPP |
| 2006 |
|
January |
130.2 |
5.8 |
0.77 |
|
February |
131.5 |
6.4 |
0.76 |
|
March |
132.2 |
6.5 |
0.76 |
|
April |
132.7 |
6.1 |
0.75 |
|
May |
132.9 |
5.2 |
0.75 |
|
June |
134.1 |
5.8 |
0.75 |
|
July |
134.7 |
5.6 |
0.74 |
|
August |
134.9 |
5.0 |
0.74 |
|
September |
134.8 |
4.8 |
0.74 |
|
October |
134.4 |
4.7 |
0.74 |
|
November |
134.0 |
3.7 |
0.75 |
|
December |
134.1 |
3.7 |
0.75 |
| 2007 |
|
January |
134.7 |
3.5 |
0.74 |
|
February |
135.3 |
2.9 |
0.74 |
|
March |
136.1 |
3.0 |
0.73 |
|
April |
136.6 |
2.9 |
0.73 |
|
May |
137.2 |
3.2 |
0.73 |
|
June |
138.4 |
3.2 |
0.72 |
|
July |
138.8 |
3.1 |
0.72 |
|
August |
138.9 |
3.0 |
0.72 |
|
September |
- |
- |
- |
|
October |
- |
- |
- |
|
November |
- |
- |
- |
|
December |
- |
- |
- |
2008 |
|
January |
143.2 |
6.3 |
0.70 |
|
February |
144.4 |
6.7 |
0.69 |
|
March |
146.2 |
7.4 |
0.68 |
|
April |
151.4 |
10.8 |
0.66 |
|
May |
153.9 |
12.2 |
0.65 |
|
June |
164.5 |
18.9 |
0.61 |
|
July |
161.6 |
16.4 |
0.62 |
|
August |
159.1 |
14.5 |
0.63 |
|
September |
157.2 |
13.2 |
0.64 |
|
October |
155.4 |
11.6 |
0.64 |
|
November |
155.6 |
11.5 |
0.64 |
|
December |
154.7 |
10.0 |
0.65 |
2009 |
|
January |
154.8 |
8.1 |
0.65 |
|
February |
157.7 |
9.2 |
0.63 |
|
March |
159.7 |
9.2 |
0.63 |
|
April |
159.9 |
5.6 |
0.63 |
|
May |
160.2 |
4.1 |
0.62 |
|
June |
160.8 |
-2.2 |
0.62 |
|
July |
161.4 |
-.01 |
0.62 |
|
August |
161.8 |
1.7 |
0.62 |
|
September |
|
|
|
|
October |
|
|
|
|
November |
|
|
|
|
December |
|
|
|
source: NSO - Consumer's
Price Index
| DEMOGRAPHY |
2007 |
2000 |
1995 |
1990 |
| Total Population |
| Region XII |
3,829,081 |
3,222,169 |
2,864,966 |
2,650,342 |
| Male |
- |
1,641,838 |
1,460,794 |
1,349,804/a |
| Female |
- |
1,580,331 |
1,386,172 |
1,296,248/b |
| Cotabato |
1,121,974 |
958,643 |
862,666 |
763,995 |
| Male |
- |
489,963 |
444,234 |
390,840 |
| Female |
- |
468,680 |
418,432 |
372,309/b |
| South Cotabato |
767,254 |
690,728 |
621,155 |
1,072,988 |
| Male |
- |
352,816 |
317,690 |
547,165/b |
| Female |
- |
337,912 |
303,465 |
523,970/b |
| Sarangani |
475,514 |
410,622 |
367,006 |
/a |
| Male |
- |
210,994 |
189,722 |
/a |
| Female |
- |
199,628 |
177,284 |
/a |
| Sultan Kudarat |
675,644 |
586,505 |
522,187 |
435,905 |
| Male |
- |
300,716 |
271,732 |
223,905/b |
| Female |
- |
285,789 |
250,455 |
211,549/b |
| Cotabato City |
259,153 |
163,849 |
146,779 |
127,065 |
| Male |
- |
79,853 |
71,624 |
61,557 |
| Female |
- |
83,996 |
75,155 |
65,079/b |
| General Santos City |
529,542 |
411,822 |
327,173 |
250,389 |
| Male |
- |
207,496 |
165,792 |
126,337/b |
| Female |
- |
204,326 |
161,381 |
123,341/b |
| Total Household
Population
|
| Region XII |
- |
3,215,227 |
2,389,974 |
2,646,052 |
| Cotabato |
- |
957,294 |
860,921 |
763,149 |
| South Cotabato |
- |
689,663 |
620,057 |
1,071,135 |
| Sarangani |
- |
410,137 |
366,610 |
/a |
| Sultan Kudarat |
- |
585,768 |
521,234 |
435,454 |
| Cotabato City |
- |
161,517 |
145,863 |
126,636 |
| General Santos City |
- |
410,848 |
325,289 |
249,678 |
| Total
Number of Household |
| Region XII |
- |
645,178 |
559,565 |
487,043 |
| Cotabato |
- |
188,581 |
169,718 |
141,027 |
| South Cotabato |
- |
141,418 |
122,298 |
198,152 |
| Sarangani |
- |
82,896 |
70,636 |
/a |
| Sultan Kudarat |
- |
114,461 |
104,311 |
78,994 |
| Cotabato City |
- |
31,227 |
27,093 |
22,276 |
| General Santos City |
- |
86,595 |
65,509 |
46,144 |
| Average Household
Size
|
| Cotabato |
- |
5.1 |
5.1 |
5.4 |
| South Cotabato |
- |
4.9 |
5.1 |
5.4 |
| Sarangani |
- |
4.9 |
5.2 |
5.4 |
| Sultan Kudarat |
- |
5.1 |
5.0 |
5.5 |
| Cotabato City |
- |
5.2 |
5.4 |
5.6 |
| General Santos City |
- |
4.7 |
5.0 |
5.4 |
| Sex Ratio
|
| Cotabato |
- |
104.5 |
106.2 |
105.0 |
| South Cotabato |
- |
104.4 |
104.7 |
104.1 |
| Sarangani |
- |
105.7 |
107.0 |
106.9 |
| Sultan Kudarat |
- |
105.2 |
108.5 |
105.8 |
| Cotabato City |
- |
95.1 |
95.3 |
94.6 |
| General Santos City |
- |
101.6 |
102.7 |
102.4 |
| Dependency Ratio
|
| Cotabato |
- |
76.8 |
81.7 |
85.8 |
| South Cotabato |
- |
72.6 |
77.6 |
84.0 |
| Sarangani |
- |
80.7 |
85.0 |
80.7 |
| Sultan Kudarat |
- |
76.4 |
75.8 |
84.9 |
| Cotabato City |
- |
60.2 |
65.5 |
68.9 |
| General Santos City |
|
|
|
|
| Population Density
(person/sq.km.)
|
| Cotabato |
- |
146.0 |
118.4 |
104.9 |
| South Cotabato |
- |
156.0 |
151.7 |
131.7 |
| Sarangani |
- |
111.0 |
114.3 |
111.0 |
| Sultan Kudarat |
- |
124.0 |
109.3 |
91.2 |
| Cotabato City |
- |
931.0 |
1,022.9 |
885.5 |
| General Santos City |
- |
836.0 |
663.8 |
508.0 |
| Average Annual
Population Growth Rate (%)
|
| Cotabato |
- |
2.29 |
2.30 |
3.07 |
| South Cotabato |
- |
2.30 |
2.68 |
5.68 |
| Sarangani |
- |
2.43 |
4.98 |
2.58 |
| Sultan Kudarat |
- |
2.52 |
3.44 |
3.68 |
| Cotabato City |
- |
2.38 |
2.74 |
4.24 |
| General Santos City |
- |
5.05 |
5.14 |
5.30 |
| Population Projection/c
|
| Cotabato |
- |
1,088,146 |
1,065,155 |
1,042,102 |
| South Cotabato |
- |
1,311,516 |
1,272,693 |
1,233,771 |
| Sarangani |
- |
500,189 |
485,794 |
471,358 |
| Sultan Kudarat |
- |
664,954 |
650,443 |
635,887 |
| Cotabato City |
- |
180,802 |
177,442 |
174,082 |
| General Santos City |
- |
- |
- |
- |
/a - data included in South Cotabato Since it was only
created into a province only in 1992
/b - refers to household population only
/c - 1995 Census Based National, Regional and Provincial Population Projections
source: NSO - 2000 Census
of Population and Housing |
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