Inflation Rate (IR) in Eastern Visayas escalated further to 3.3% in June 2021. This IR is 0.2 percentage point higher compared with the 3.1% IR in May 2021. This June IR of the region is also 2.2 percentage points higher than the recorded 1.1% IR in the same period last year.
In comparison with the national average IR, the regional IR is 0.8 percentage point lower than the 4.1% national IR in June 2021.
Among the provinces, Samar posted the highest IR at 7.8% in June 2021. Eastern Samar’s IR came next at 6.5%, then Biliran at 4.4%. The lowest IR was noted in Leyte at 1.3%. Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, and Leyte registered higher IRs in June 2021 compared with their figures in May 2021.
Northern Samar recorded the highest increase in IR at 1.5 percentage points, pushing its IR to 3.1% in June 2021 from 1.6% in May 2021. Eastern Samar’s IR rose to 6.5% in June 2021, recording 1.1 percentage points increase from its 5.4% IR in May 2021. Leyte grew by 0.4 percentage point registering 1.3% IR in June 2021. On the other hand, the provinces of Biliran, Samar, and Southern Leyte managed to lower their IRs in June by 1.1 percentage points, 0.5 percentage point, and 0.3 percentage point, respectively.
Biliran’s IR declined to 4.4% percent in June 2021 from 5.5% in May 2021. IR for Samar eased down to 7.8% in June 2021 from 8.3% in May 2021. Southern Leyte’s IR, meanwhile, settled at 3% percent in June 2021, 0.3 percentage point lower compared with its 3.3% IR in May 2021.
Transport commodity group continued to post the highest IR at 11.5%. The 6.8% IR of alcoholic beverages and tobacco commodity group followed. All the other commodity groups have IR equal or lower than the IR for all items recorded at 3.3%.
Majority of the 11 commodity groups in the region exhibited higher IRs in June 2021 compared with their rates in May 2021. Food and non-alcoholic beverages commodity group registered the biggest increase in IR by 0.6 percentage point, from 2.2% in May 2021 to 2.8% in June 2021. Higher IRs were noted in majority of the items under this commodity group. Fish index registered the highest increase of 2.7 percentage points, from 6.4% IR in May 2021 to 9.1% IR in June 2021. The IR for vegetables index grew by 1.6 percentage points from its 0.3% IR in May 2021, posting 1.9% IR in June 2021. Prices of meat picked up at a faster rate of 9.6% in June 2021 from 8.9% in May 2021.
