Butuan: The Philippine Statistics Authority in Caraga Region (PSA-13) has reported the increase in headline inflation in the area to 3.3 percent last month.
According to Philippines News Agency, PSA-13 Director Guillermo Lipio noted that last month's inflation is higher than the 2.6 percent recorded in December 2025 and the 1.4 percent seen in January of the same year. The inflation increase was primarily driven by rising prices in food and non-alcoholic beverages, which went up from 0.8 percent in December 2025 to 2.1 percent.
Lipio explained that the commodity group significantly impacted the inflation upward trend in the region, contributing 74.9 percent to the rise. The housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels also played a part in the inflation increase last month, with this group experiencing 6.6 percent inflation in January, up from 6.1 percent in December, contributing a total of 10.6 percent to Caraga's headline inflation.
Within this commodity group, housing rental saw the highest inflation last month, increasing to 8.5 percent from 8 percent. This was followed by fuel wood, which rose to 4.7 percent from 3.2 percent, and electricity, which increased to 6 percent from 5.5 percent.
Lipio also pointed out that certain major commodity groups experienced lower inflation in the region. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco dropped from 4.2 percent in December to 4 percent in January, transport fell from 1.3 percent to 0.6 percent, and information and communication declined from 2 percent to 1.3 percent. Education services and financial services recorded constant inflation at 1.4 percent and 0.0 percent, respectively.
High inflation rates were observed across all provinces in the region last month. Agusan del Norte's inflation rate rose to 4.2 percent from 2.4 percent, Agusan del Sur to 2.8 percent from 2.6 percent, Surigao del Norte to 3.2 percent from 2.0 percent, Surigao del Sur to 1.2 percent from 0.4 percent, and Dinagat Islands to 4.3 percent from 3.3 percent.
