Davao: The inflation rate in Davao Region for the bottom 30 percent income households climbed to 12.1 percent in August from 11.6 percent in July, as reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority-11 (PSA-11) on Friday. This increase is mainly attributed to escalating food costs.

According to Philippines News Agency, the PSA-11 bulletin highlighted that the region's inflation was significantly lower at -2.5 percent in August of the previous year. The overall inflation rise in August 2026 was driven primarily by a faster year-on-year growth rate in the index of Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages, which increased to 13.8 percent from 13.1 percent.

The report further noted higher annual rates in several commodity groups during the month. These include alcoholic beverages and tobacco, which rose to 7.1 percent from 6.6 percent; clothing and footwear, increasing to 2.5 percent from 2.4 percent; furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance, which went up to 2.8 percent from 2.6 percent; transport, which saw a rise to 13.0 percent from 11.2 percent; and recreation, sport, and culture, increasing to 7.3 percent from 7.1 percent.

Conversely, some commodity groups experienced slower price movements in August. These include housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, which decreased to 16.2 percent from 16.9 percent; restaurants and accommodation services, which slightly dropped to 6.7 percent from 6.8 percent; and personal care and miscellaneous goods and services, which went down to 4.5 percent from 4.6 percent.

Meanwhile, certain commodity groups maintained their previous month's inflation rates, such as health at 6.0 percent, information and communication at 1.4 percent, and education services at 3.6 percent.

The top three contributors to the August 2026 inflation for the bottom 30 percent income households were food and non-alcoholic beverages with a 64.2 percent share or 7.8 percentage points, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels with a 19.2 percent share or 2.3 percentage points, and transport with a 6.8 percent share or 0.8 percentage points.

Furthermore, food inflation for the bottom 30 percent income households at the regional level showed a faster price movement at 14.4 percent in August, up from 13.8 percent in the previous month. PSA-11 noted that food inflation was lower at -5.5 percent in August 2025.