Inflation rate spikes to 3.3% in November

The inflation rate (increase in the prices of goods and services) soared to its highest in over a year due to the faster increase of food items’ price due to the strong typhoons’ agricultural damage.

The country recorded a 3.3% inflation rate in November from 2.5% in October. This is faster than the 1.3% inflation rate in the same period last year.

Last month’s inflation rate is also the highest since April 2019, at 3%.

November’s rate is also faster than the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ projection range of 2.4% to 3.2%.

“Ang pangunahing dahilan ng pag-angat ng inflation sa buwan ng Nobyembre 2020 ay ang mas mabilis na pagtaas ng presyo ng Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages,” National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said in a virtual press conference on Friday.

Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages had an annual increase of 4.3% in November, which primarily increased the overall inflation.

“Ang datos natin nagpakita nga na ang sources ng pagtaas sa inflation ay nasa food basket natin so ito ay vegetables, meat, and fish. These are really influenced by supply, and you have typhoons in November, so it affected the prices,” Mapa said.

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Inflation rate spikes to 3.3% in November

Last month, Super Typhoon Rolly and Typhoon Ulysses caused billions of pesos worth of damages to agriculture, resulting in a lack of supply and price increase of commodities.

Meanwhile, the continuous threat of African swine fever also affected the supply of meat and contributed to increased prices.

“Sa karne, partikular na ‘yung baboy, nagkaroon tayo kasi ng ASF that also affected the supply,” the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) chief said.

Last month’s inflation brought the year-to-date figure to 2.6%, which is still within the government’s target of 2% to 4% for 2020.

Specifically, the national level inflation for the food index increased further to 4.5% in November 2020, from 2.1% in October.

The index for vegetables recorded an annual increment of 14.6% during the month, after registering an annual drop of -0.5% in October.

The following food groups recorded an annual increase:

Meat, 8.2%
Fish, 5.3%
Fruits, 5.6%
Sugar, jam, honey, chocolate, and confectionery, 0.4%