Inflation continued its downward trend as it decelerated further to 3 percent in January, from 3.2 percent in December 2021, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Friday.

The January inflation was the lowest annual rate recorded since November 2020. In January 2021, inflation was higher at 3.7 percent.

The slowdown in the overall inflation was mainly due to the lower annual increase in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 4.5 percent in January 2022, from 5.1 percent in December 2021.

Also contributing to the downtrend in the overall inflation was the lower annual increments registered in the indices of the following commodity groups:

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 5.6 percent;

Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, 4.5 percent;

Health, 3.1 percent;

Recreation, sport and culture, 1.5 percent;

Education services, 0.6 percent; and

Restaurants and accommodation services, 3 percent.

On the other hand, annual increases were higher in the indices of the following commodity groups:

Clothing and footwear, 2 percent;

Furnishing, household equipment and routine household maintenance, 2.4 percent;

Transport, 7 percent;

Information and communication, 0.7 percent; and

Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 2.2 percent.

The indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, and financial services retained their previous month’s annual growth rates of 1.6 percent and 43.3 percent, respectively.

Food inflation remained at 1.6 percent at the national level in January. In the previous year of the same month, inflation for food was recorded at 6.4 percent.

By food group, the annual growth rate of the corn index accelerated further to 27.7 percent during the month, from 16.5 percent in the previous month. In addition, annual upticks were higher in the indices of the following food groups:

Flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals, 2.7 percent;

Milk, other dairy products, and eggs, 0.9 percent;

Oils and fats, 8.5 percent;

Sugar, confectionery and desserts, 2.8 percent; and

Ready-made food and other food products N.E.C., 1.9 percent.

Similarly, the annual growth rate of the index of rice went up to 1.0 percent during the month, from -0.1 percent in the previous month, while fish and other seafood retained its previous month’s annual rate of 6.2 percent. PSA