DAVAO Region's inflation rate decelerated to 4.5 percent in February from 4.7 percent in January.

Data from Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that inflation rate in the region slowed down due to the slow movement of prices of most commodities.

Slower inflation was noted in food and non-alcoholic beverages (4.7 percent to 4.1 percent); alcoholic beverages and tobacco (11.1 percent to 8.6 percent); health (6.9 percent to 6.5 percent); transport (2 percent to 1 percent); clothing and footwear (4.4 percent to 4.3 percent); and communication (1.2 percent to 1.1 percent).

However, the following commodities showed slight increase in its indices: restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services (5.4 percent to 5.5 percent); housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel (5.6 percent to 6.8 percent); furnishing, household equipment, and routine maintenance of the house (5.4 percent to 5.5 percent); and recreation and culture (5 percent to 5.1 percent).

The deceleration in the region's inflation rate mirrors the downtrend in the inflation rate of areas outside the National Captial Region (AONCR) as reported by PSA.

"Relative to their annual increments in the previous month, all the regions in AONCR had slower annual mark-ups in February 2019," the statistics agency said.

Data showed inflation rate in all regions in Mindanao also slowed down: Zamboanga Peninsula (3.6 percent to 2.5 percent), Northern Mindanao (4.6 percent to 4.2 percent), Davao Region (4.7 percent to 4.5 percent), Soccsksargen (5.2 percent to 4.2 percent), Caraga Region (3.7 percent to 3.3 percent), and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (6.1 percent to 4 percent).