PHILIPPINE STAR/RUSSELL A. PALMARETAIL price growth of general goods in the National Capital Region (NCR) eased in 2024, the weakest reading in four years, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.
Citing preliminary data, the PSA said growth in the general retail price index (GRPI) in Metro Manila slowed to 1.8% in 2024, well below the year-earlier 4.5%.
The 2024 reading was the weakest since the 1.2% posted in 2020.
“The primary contributor to the downtrend in the annual average growth rate of GRPI was the slower annual average increase recorded in the index of food at 2.4% in 2024 from 8.2% in the previous year,” the PSA said in its report.
Other commodity groups that posted weaker year-on-year growth were beverages and tobacco (3.5% from 5.9%); crude materials, inedible except fuels (1.0% from 4.8%); chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats (2.4% from 3.2%); manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials (1.3% from 2.7%); machinery and transport equipment (0.5% from 1.4%); and miscellaneous manufactured articles (1.4% from 1.7%).
In December, GRPI growth in Metro Manila picked up to 1.5% year on year in December from 1.4% in November. It was lower than the 2.9% a year earlier.
The December reading was the highest since the 1.9% posted in July. — Pierce Oel A. Montalvo
