INFLATION in Central Visayas continued its downtrend in June 2025, settling at 0.9 percent down from 1.1 percent in May, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority–Central Visayas (PSA 7).
This marks a significant improvement from the 4.8 percent inflation rate recorded in the same month last year.
At a press briefing on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, PSA 7 Officer-in-Charge Regional Director II Wilma A. Perante clarified that the lower inflation rate does not mean prices have stopped rising altogether.
“Meron pa din increase pero medyo slowdown lang siya, ibig sabihin bumagal lang ang pagtaas ng prices ng ating goods at services,” she said. (There’s still an increase, but it has slowed down a bit — meaning the rise in prices of our goods and services has just decelerated.)
Perante also noted that while gasoline, diesel, and fuel prices have declined, the PSA collects prices on the first Friday of the month. As a result, any price hikes occurring after that date are not reflected in the monthly data.
“If there are increases beyond that, that wouldn’t be captured by the survey of collection of prices,” she said.
The easing of inflation was primarily attributed to two major commodity groups:
Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels, which contributed 61.3 percent to the overall downtrend. Inflation in this group dropped from four percent in May to 1.9 percent in June, driven mainly by a significant decrease in electricity costs.
Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, accounting for 33.3 percent of the slowdown, saw inflation fall further from -1.3 percent to -2 percent, led by declining prices in Cereals and Cereal Products as well as Vegetables and Tubers.
Despite the general easing, certain components continued to push inflation higher:
Within housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, rentals posted a four percent inflation rate, contributing 1.25 percentage points.
Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance added 0.35 percentage points, mainly due to a 13 percent inflation rate in domestic services.
Education Services contributed 0.20 percentage points, largely due to a 5.6 percent increase in tertiary education fees.
Inflation in key cities
and provinces
Moreover, all highly urbanized cities in Central Visayas posted lower inflation in June.
Lapu-Lapu City’s inflation was down from 1.8 percent in May to 0.6 percent; Mandaue City, from one percent to 0.3 percent; and Cebu City, from 0.5 percent to 0.3 percent.
Among the provinces, Bohol saw inflation ease from 1.7 percent to 1.5 percent, while Cebu Province recorded deflation, with its rate falling from 0.5 percent to -0.8 percent.
With this performance, Central Visayas ranked third among the 18 regions nationwide with the lowest inflation rate in June. / Antonette Caren Arrabis, CNU Intern