The Negros Island Region (NIR) posted the lowest inflation rate in the country at 1.5 percent in March, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Friday, April 10.
Inflation rose from 0.7 percent in February and 0.8 percent in January, bringing the first-quarter average to 1.0 percent.
“In March 2026, NIR recorded the lowest inflation rate among all the regions,” PSA-NIR chief statistical specialist Ma. Goretti Novilla said in an online press briefing.
NIR includes Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Siquijor, and Bacolod City.
The March increase was mainly driven by housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, which jumped to 8.2 percent from -1.0 percent in February, contributing 60.6 percent to the uptrend.
Gasoline rose to 23.8 percent and diesel to 57.6 percent, from -5.1 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.
Inflation for bottom 30 percent households slowed to 0.1 percent from 0.3 percent in February.
The decline was driven by food and non-alcoholic beverages, which posted -2.0 percent from 0.3 percent, accounting for 100 percent of the downtrend.
Key contributors included cereals and cereal products at -8.4 percent, fish and seafood at 4.5 percent, and meat and others at -10.1 percent.*PNA
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