Davao: Negros Island Region Negros Island Region (NIR) experienced a sharp rise in inflation in April 2026, with the headline inflation rate climbing to 4.9 percent, up from 1.5 percent in March 2026, an official of the Philippine Statistics Authority said on Thursday.
According to Philippines News Agency, John Campomanes, Chief Statistical Specialist and Officer in Charge of the PSA-NIR, stated at a press conference that the regional inflation rate in April 2026 was also higher than the 1.5 percent inflation rate in April 2025. The region's average inflation from January to April this year was at 2 percent. Despite the increase, Campomanes noted, "Negros Island Region recorded the lowest inflation rate among all the regions in April 2026."
The main driver of the inflation jump was the food and non-alcoholic beverages commodity group, which was pegged at 2.8 percent with a 46.5 percent share in the overall inflation acceleration. This commodity group includes cereals and cereal products, fish and other seafood, and meat and others. The second driver was the transport commodity, which recorded an 18 percent increase over the 8.2 percent inflation in April 2025, contributing 26.3 percent to the upward inflation trend. The sub-groups of this inflation driver include gasoline, diesel, and other passenger transport by road.
Campomanes highlighted that the third driver of the acceleration was housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, which logged a 12.6 percent share in the higher inflation rate last month. This group includes liquefied petroleum gas, charcoal, and other fuels.
Records presented by Campomanes during the press conference showed that the top three contributors to the April 2026 inflation were gasoline, with a 53.8 percent inflation rate and 19.2 percent contribution; diesel, 103.3 percent inflation rate and 10.3 percent contribution; and liquefied petroleum gas, 41.1 percent inflation rate and 7.4 percent contribution. The major commodity groups with higher inflation were alcoholic beverages and tobacco; clothing and footwear; and housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels.
The region's food inflation rate rose to 2.6 percent in April 2026 versus 1.3 percent in March 2026 and 0.7 percent in April 2025. Meanwhile, the inflation rates among the provinces and highly urbanized cities in the NIR for April 2026 were as follows: Negros Occidental with 3.2 percent; Negros Oriental, 6.1 percent; Bacolod City, 7.1 percent, and Siquijor, 9.6 percent.
Inflation for the bottom 30 percent income households for April 2026 across the region was at 3.8 percent, compared to -0.1 percent in March 2026 and 1.3 percent in April 2025. Campomanes mentioned they are monitoring the prices of some 6,000 items monthly, including goods and services that are commonly purchased or availed of by the people as the basis for their inflation report.
