SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union (PIA) — The Ilocos Region posted a 2.0 inflation rate in February 2024, a figure 6.3 percentage points lower than in February 2023, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) shows.
 
The February 2024 inflation rate for the Ilocos Region is also lower than the national average of 3.4 percent for the same period.
 
The PSA attributes the decline to the decrease in the indices of some commodities, including housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, which collectively posted a negative 7.4 percent increase for February 2024.
 
PSA-Regional Statistical Services Office 1 (RSSO 1) officer-in-charge and Supervising Statistical Specialist Teresa Olarte adds that other commodities contributing to the low inflation rate for February 2024 include information and communication with only a 0.2 percent uptick, recreation, sports and culture with 0.4 percent, and restaurants and accommodation services with 0.9 percent.

The food index inflation rate of the region also dropped, from a figure of 10.9 percent in February 2023 to just 7.1 percent in February 2024.
 
Food contributing to the decline include flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta, and other cereals; fish and other seafood; milk, other dairy products, and eggs; and fruits and nuts, all of which posted lower inflation rates in February 2024 compared to their levels in February 2023.
 
All four provinces of Region 1 also posted lower inflation rates compared to their levels in February 2023, headlined by Ilocos Sur with a negative 1.1 percent inflation rate growth from a figure of 8.3 percent during the same period last year.

Pangasinan meanwhile posted a 2.4 percent inflation rate, down from a figure of 9.3 percent in February 2023 while Ilocos Norte posted the same 2.4 inflation rate this February which is lower than the province’s 6.1 inflation rate in February 2023.
 
Rounding out the four provinces is La Union, with a 2.8 percent inflation rate in February 2024, a significant improvement from the 6.2 percent inflation rate the province posted in February 2023.
 
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Chief Economic Development Specialist Ednore Freynon Perez says that the region’s February inflation rate of 2.0 percent falls within the government’s target range of two to four percent.
 
“Yong levels natin manageable pa rin, within target pa rin tayo. Healthy pa rin po ang economy,” Perez added.
 
(Our levels are manageable, it is within the target. Our economy remains healthy.) (JCR/AMB/CCMT, PIA La Union)