Escalation in wholesale costs of general merchandise reached its peak in a year in January as elevated prices following the Christmas festivities carried over into that month.
Initial statistics from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) indicated that the country’s general wholesale price index (GWPI) climbed 2.9% year-on-year in January, compared to the 2.7% increase documented in December 2024.
This represented the swiftest pace since the 3.5% rise in January of the previous year.
Cristina S. Ulang, the research director at First Metro Investment Corp., mentioned in a Viber correspondence that a “January effect” impacted the pricing of commodities.
“Historically, there exists the so-called January effect, whereby 40% of the time over the past ten years, general prices of goods have been higher than in the preceding month of December, which corresponds to the holiday period,” Ms. Ulang stated.
“This reflects the overshoot of price momentum during the seasonally robust phase of consumer spending during Christmas,” she added.
The PSA attributed the rise in wholesale prices in January to crude materials, inedible aside from fuels (58.6% compared to 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 categorized mainly by materials, nonetheless, remained unchanged at 1.1%.
Mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials transitioned from a 0.8% decline in December to a 0.8% increase in January.
Growth in food prices softened to 2.3% in January from 2.7% in December, while miscellaneous manufactured items dipped by 0.1% after recording a 0.1% increase in the preceding month.
By major island group, the GWPI showed varied trends.
The GWPI of Luzon outpaced the national wholesale price growth rate, recording 3.2% in January, compared to 2.8% in December. This was the fastest since the 3.4% mark recorded a year prior.
The Visayas GWPI decreased to 1.6% from 1.7% in December 2024, marking the lowest rate since 1.4% in November 2021.
Meanwhile, the GWPI in Mindanao also declined to 0.6% from 1.1% in December, representing an 8.5-year low since the 0.4% growth observed in June 2016. — Kenneth H. Hernandez
