MANILA, Philippines – Last year’s inflation rate peaked at 6.7%, the fastest uptick in 9 years. It was all over the news, but many Filipinos had no idea how it affected them.
To explain the concept, data insights and forensics company TheNerve created an inflation calculator that lets people compute the real value of money in past years – as far back as 1957 – versus today. The calculator also allows people to compare how much goods they can stuff in a hypothetical shopping basket in those years.
The results may surprise some. P1,000 in the year 1969, for example, would buy the same amount of goods as P66,667 today. That’s dozens and dozens of kilos of rice, fish, and pork.
By illustrating the concept of inflation this way, it’s easier for Filipinos to understand what it really means. For the ordinary household, it may be less food on the table, while for small businesses, it may be higher raw material costs.
TheNerve also conducted surveys to find out how inflation has hit Filipinos’ spending plans. Forty-six percent of the respondents say they feel financially worse off because of higher prices and household expenses. They say they’re buying only the basic needs (42%) and would rather save than to make a big purchase (25%).
“One of TheNerve’s goals is to bring data to life through powerful narratives. When you weave simplified data and human insight into stories, concepts that are usually hard to grasp become easy to digest. Those stories inform and inspire people to act and make better decisions,” says Amalia Gaviola, Director of Revenue and Strategy of TheNerve.
Read TheNerve’s full reports on inflation:
How Filipinos are coping with inflation
About TheNerve
TheNerve is a Manila-based consultancy that specializes on bringing together valuable data insights and meaningful narratives. Believing that data is key to delivering real-world impact, the company enables its partners across a wide range of sectors to cut through the data clutter and unravel insights in order to create narratives that matter to their communities.
Composed of a team of data scientists, business strategists, award-winning storytellers, and designers, the company is on a mission to transform data science into data relevance.
