Cebu inflation rate eases in September

Local

SLOWER increases in transport costs helped bring down Cebu province’s inflation from 9.5% in August to 9.2% in September.

Chief Statistical Specialist Felixberto M. Sato Jr. of the Cebu Provincial Statistical Office on Monday, Oct. 12 reported the latest Consumer Price Index and inflation figures covering all-income households across Cebu province and its key cities.

Despite the monthly decline, the province’s inflation rate remained higher than the 5.3% recorded in September 2025.

Transport inflation slowed to 13.5% in September from 17.6% in August, accounting for 98.4% of the deceleration in the province’s overall inflation rate.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the biggest contributor to provincial inflation, recording a rate of 10.7% and adding 4.72 percentage points to the overall figure.

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels ranked second, with inflation at 6.6% and a contribution of 1.29 percentage points.

The province’s bottom 30% income households also experienced slower inflation, with the rate declining to 10.9% in September from 11.5% in August.

Transport inflation for this group eased to 14.5%, while food inflation reached 12.2%.

However, Cebu’s major cities recorded faster inflation in September.

Cebu City’s inflation accelerated to 8.4% from 7.5% in August, more than double the 3.1% recorded in September 2025.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages drove 71.9% of the city’s inflation uptrend, recording a rate of 9.3%. Transport inflation also reached 15.2%.

Mandaue City’s inflation climbed to 6.8% in September from 5.9% in August, as restaurants and accommodation services pushed prices higher.

Inflation in the category surged to 18.7% from 9.3% in the previous month, accounting for 88.6% of the city’s upward movement.

Lapu-Lapu City also recorded faster inflation, with the rate rising to a revised 5.0% in September from 4.2% in August.

Food prices continued to exert pressure across the province, particularly vegetables, tubers and related products.

The category recorded inflation of 31.8% in Cebu province and 41.5% in Mandaue City.

Rice inflation reached 8.5% across the province, while Cebu City recorded a sharper increase of 21.1%.

Corn inflation in the province eased to 11.0%, although Lapu-Lapu City recorded an increase to 8.8%.

Nationally, inflation accelerated to 7.2% in September, eroding the peso’s purchasing power and adding pressure on households and businesses.

In a news reports, economist Emmanuel Leyco warned that rising consumer prices could weaken the peso’s appeal to investors despite the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ 5% benchmark interest rate.

He urged the government to consider suspending excise taxes on domestic fuel products to ease costs and proposed tax holidays for small businesses struggling with rising operating expenses.(MyTVCebu)