Growth in wholesale prices of general goods rose to its highest in a year in January as elevated prices after the Christmas holidays spilled over that month.
Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the country’s general wholesale price index (GWPI) went up 2.9% year on year in January compared to the 2.7% growth recorded in December 2024.
It was the fastest clip since the 3.5% growth in Janaury last year.
Cristina S. Ulang, head of research at First Metro Investment Corp., in a Viber message said a “January effect” influenced the prices of goods.
“Historically, there is the so-called January effect in which 40% of the time in the last ten years, general prices of goods were higher than the previous month of December which is the holiday season,” Ms. Ulang said.
“That’s the overshoot of the price momentum in the seasonally strong period of consumer expenditure during Christmas,” she added.
The PSA attributed the increase in wholesale price in January to crude materials, inedible except fuels (58.6% from 50.8% in December), chemicals including animal and vegetable oils and fats (9.9% from 8.7%), beverages and tobacco (2.9% from 2.1%), and machinery and transport equipment (1.3% from 1%).
Manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials, meanwhile, remained steady at 1.1%.
Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials went from a 0.8% slump in December to a 0.8% growth in January.
Food price growth eased to 2.3% in January from 2.7% in December, while miscellaneous manufactured articles declined by 0.1% after posting a 0.1% growth a month prior.
By major island group, GWPI was mixed.
The GWPI of Luzon went faster than the national wholesale price growth rate with a reading of 3.2% in January, against 2.8% in December. This was the fastest since the 3.4% reading a year earlier.
The Visayas GWPI slowed to 1.6% from 1.7% in December 2024, the lowest since 1.4% in November 2021.
Meanwhile, Mindanao GWPI also eased to 0.6% from the 1.1% in December. This marked a 8.5-year low since the 0.4% growth seen in June 2016. — Kenneth H. Hernandez
