I wrote an article about shopping for groceries in 2007. I compared the price from the time we came here in 2000 – to the year 2007. So it’s been more than 7 years again.
For those who think that the Philippines is a cheap place to live, look at the jump in prices. And, think about the future, these price increases will only continue, buy bactrim online pharmacy, you can be sure it won’t turn around.
I want to compare the prices then from 2007 – to the end of 2014. I was looking at the price from the year 2000 – 2007 and it was really a big difference. Just looking at it, now it really made a big jump on the prices.
Philippine Prices 2015
| Grocery Item | 2000 Price | 2007 Price | 2015 Price |
| Chicken per Kilo | P70 | P115-120 | P140-160 |
| Can of Coke | P8.75 | P15 | P23 |
| Noodles (Ramin/Lucky Me) | P3.25 | P5.95 | P8 |
| Egg | P1.50 | P3.75 | P7 |
| Rice per Kilo | P16 | P29-30 | P49-65 |
That’s just a few items that was on top of my head when I was writing the first post. Every 7 years it looks like the prices of the items almost jump twice as the previous price. Nowadays, you really have to wonder how can a family here in the Philippines that lives below the poverty line afford to eat descent meals everyday.
The businessmen here were getting wiser though. Just for example they know the typical Filipino family can’t afford to buy the big tank of LPG/Gasul/Price Gas (the regular tank content about 11 kg inside), they now make a smaller tank content of 2.7 kg. If I remember we bought our 11 kg tank and full tank for P2k – P2,500 I think. That was around 15 years ago. We bought the bigger tank too. I can’t remember how much did we pay for that. To refill the biggest tank it will cost P3,500. The 11kg it’s between P700 – P900. I don’t know the 2.7 kg though. It must be cheaper. The prices will vary too.
Talking about the rice, the most important food in the Philippines. The 49 pesos rice, it’s already good. The low end rice might cost P30 (they called that NFA). Higher price rice the better. What I usually do with our rice, I will buy the 49 pesos, then I will buy some red color rice (denorado) and the black rice (they call it tapul in Bisaya). I mix all those rice and the color changes. Just put small amount of the tapul. If it’s white all the time it gets boring. It cost a little bit more but everyone in the house likes it. Even Bob, he eats rice porridge in the morning for breakfast. He likes the colored rice.
I just went to Swiss Deli today to buy bread. We like to buy their Ciabata bread. When we bought that bread many years back the bread was longer and cheaper. Now the ciabata bread got shorter and price higher. It just shows all the products really went up. Same with the powdered juice here like Tang, Nestea, Eight O’clock and many others. Prices were too higher and the content gets smaller.
It’s really easy to get imported items now, with S & R just around the corner from us. If you’re loaded with dough buying at S & R is not a pain for you. They almost have anything you want. I was looking at their meats. They have Wagyu meat, meat from Australia, New Zealand. Good looking meat. Imported seafoods & fish from the States.
Luckily, the people that lives below the poverty line now can afford at least for the clothing too. They had choices for Ukay-Ukay or those clothes that’s made in China or something that they sells now in many shops in Davao. 2 shirts sometimes cost 180 pesos or below. The thinner people really can get all the fashion they want. So many choices for them. I guess for bigger people just go for the ukay-ukay then.
Have fun living here! Cheers!!!
good information
Hi Carl – Thank you so much!
That’s also happening here in Canada! I remember buying apple juice in a can. It used to be 2 litres. Then it went down to 1.89, 1.5 and now 1.09 litres for the same price. And talk about beef prices. It’s through the roof. I usually buy things on sale. Luckily, it’s only my husband and I but I can only imagine how much a family has to spend on groceries.
Hi Maria – I figured it too. Only thing at least people there can afford compared to the people below the poverty line here. It’s so depressing really seeing them struggle.
Hmmm… It thought its not so common there with the product shrinking in sizes. I thought they will just raised the prices. It shows I’m out of touch over there. LOL
The local beef is already high in price, geez, if you can see the imported beef like Wagyu beef, wow, the price is just up to the roof. 🙂
Hey, typical households here consist of more than 5 people. Go figure… 🙂
Good to see you here. Thanks for the nice comment!
Its also same here higher prices smaller contents of products, Bob now i think time to Vegetarian..
Hi Inday – Vegetarian??? Nah, it won’t happened to the Martin household. LOL
Good to see you here my dear friend!
Ha ha…. I gotta have my meat, Inday! 🙂 Caveman….
Mrs Feyma,
We usually buy the red rice for 60p kilo. I don’t mind spending extra for imported since we can afford it.
Hi PapaDuck – We do buy 3 different kinds of rice and will mix them. Good for a change sometimes. 🙂
We do spend on the imported stuff. But I’m trying to used the local product as much as possible. Ha ha ha…
Always good to see you here. Have a great day!
I’m assuming you list the items to buy once your there that just does not make sense to ship. As well as some of the items you might want to bring with you that are hard to get there included in your moving to Philippines digital books? Do you see Electric tooth brushes there ? I love my electric toothbrush.
Hi Michael – To be honest to many stores here carries imported stuff. I’ve seen many electric toothbrush here SM, Gaisano, NCCC, S & R & many more. Bob was right too darn expensive. We used to have electric toothbrush in our household. I mean all of us.
Thank you for you comment!
Hi Michael. There are electric toothbrushes here, but they are very expensive (all electronics are expensive here), and also a limited variety.
Yes correct I mentioned before when I went to the U S a few months ago I was shell schocked with food prices there…Fruits were selling for $4.00 per pound…I bought 2 small apricots (because hadn’t had them for years) and they cost me 80 cents each….Meats tremendously high..I knew prices were going to go up here after being there..
Hi Lenny – That’s what I’ve been hearing from friends. I guess at the end, it might still be cheaper to live in this part of the world then. Lol
I’m so glad that Bob and the kids are so into the local fruit here. If they don’t, my gosh we have to be buying the expensive imported fruits. Sigh
Thank you for you wonderful comment!
Hi feyma, it’s the low income family you have to feel sorry for, we can afford to eat well my wife
Cooks different food instead of relying on rice for every meal , the price of rice we buy is usually
About p48 pesos but you can buy nice quality potatos on our local market for about p 30 to p35 pesos,
Going out for a meal we went to Kenny Rogers like every were else meals getting smaller price gets
Higher, i think the trick is to eat different types of food easier said than done cause I know Filipinos
Like rice with every meal . Derek in sunny pasig
Hi Derek – Exactly. I guess go for the way cheaper rice and eat lots of vegetables.
It’s hard seeing poor people (the beggars and the below the poverty line) here. But we can’t help all of them though.
Same here we can buy good size potatoes on our local public market and good quality rice that’s affordable for us. Good thing here in Mindanao our fruits, vegetables are grown not far from us and it sold in the public market in a reasonable price. Its much cheaper if you buy at the farm. Just don’t buy too much at the grocery market at the mall.
For awhile now we don’t go out to eat that much. We tend to go healthier diet now. 🙂 …
Thank you so much for stopping by!
Hi Feyma.
Everything here in the States is going through the roof also, except gasoline which actually came down in price. Filled both of my tanks on my regular size Van ( 40 gallons) for about $80 @ 1.95 per gallon. Of course it will go back up,lol.
Rice of course has also gone up, so has ALL meats. Time to start raising Rabbits for meat, but will wait for that when I get there.
Hi Heinz – I guess people all over the world experiencing the high price problem. Even if the gas become cheaper here, I doubt if the public transport would rollback the price. Some place did, and the drivers went on strike. So the public has no choice but to accept it.
*** Rice of course has also gone up, so has ALL meats. Time to start raising Rabbits for meat, but will wait for that when I get there. *** ———— Not a bad idea… LOL
Good to see you here again!
Great information! I didn’t know cost has gone up so much.
Hi Geri – Thank you. Unfortunately it’s been going up, and keep going.
Thank you for stopping by!
Wow , that’s quite a jump , is there any relief for the people in poverty , like food stamps or food bank for families? Sorry its a little off topic
Hi Lorne – Yep, it’s been going up and unfortunately it keeps going and going like the energizer battery.
Nope, theirs no such thing as food stamp here or food bank. The only thing here that those people will get anything is really from an individual donation or from charities or from the companies.
We did give every year here on LIP Drive. We go to the mountains or at and give there Sometimes we give to street children or we give to the orphanage.
Anyway, nice to see you here!
FOOD STAMPS!!! Lorne, have you ever been here? Unfortunately the poor have to fend for themselves. No money no food. No money no doctor. No money no education! I don’t like “Filipino style” rice. Stuck together in lumps. In fact I’v never seen that in another cuisine. I like “fluffy” rice with grains separated, so I use Thai usually. Or a local long grain rice. I don’t eat much red meat, mostly fish, chicken, pasta, curries, and salads. An occasional roast beef dinner! I lived in London most of my life, but when I went there on holiday, 2012 I was shocked at the prices! At least San Mig has not increased too much!
Hi Feyma
Very useful information thanks.
We tend to buy our rice from a local dealer along the Pan-Philippine Highway near the Petronas depot (same side of the road) in Bunawan. It is sold out of a prefab warehouse and we just pull over for the assistant to load of the boot (trunk) of the car.
My wife swears by it as it is the vendors own produce and is not mixed with cheaper brands as some of the other traders do.
Hi AJ – Thank you. I’m glad you like my post.
Yep, that’s a good place to buy rice too. When I was growing up, that’s how my parents buy rice sometimes.
Yep sometimes at the market they mix stuff. Just have to go and have suki (vendors you go all the time) there at the market.
Thank you for your comment. Have a great day!
I first came there 6 years ago and it seems most things have doubled. I came for friends and the beautiful country but the cheap cost to live excited me. That excitement is gone but the people and the country are still beautiful:) I agree its sad for the poor, it would be nice if the government would help but i dont see that happening.
Hi Roger. Imagine from the time we moved here prices had already doubled by that first time you came here. It used to be a cheap place to live. Those days are gone though.
I can only imagine Bob. Good thing you were smart enough to set up the business you have. Very wise decision..
I enjoy ” sightseeing ” in supermarkets and grocery stores in other countries to see what kind of things are available As I was looking at Breakfast Cerial in Gaisano, Iligan some of my local friends there told me they have never eatin packaged breakfast cerial because it was for rich people. I converted the prices, and using my practical conversion methods converted the content weight to something I could understand and compare. Big box, high price, little content. I bought each of my friends a box of cerial of their choice so they could at least try it.
The same thing has been happening here in the USA for the past few years or longer. No more 1 Lb can of coffee as they seem to have shrunk to 10 or 12 ounces. Cerial boxes same size but the contents shrunk to about 12 ounces instead of 20 at prices that will make you run to the Excedrin department.
I can still get a decent price on a 20 ounce box of house brand rasin bran at Walmart, but I doubt you will fine Walmart prices in The Philippines.
Speaking of Walmart, there used to be collusion between supermarket chains in the UK when I used to vacation there in the 1990’s. Wallmart USA bought the popular UK supermarket chain ” ASDA ” and reduced all the prices to the best extent possible. A few months later the other chains had little choice and when prices began to drop in the other chains it became known as ” The ASDA Effect “.
I do find many restaurant prices in PH quite attractive, I wonder if for an individual or couple in The Philippines it might be less costly to just eat out most of the time ?
Thanks for the update on prices Feyma. Good article.
Hi Bob – I think you saw then in the store about the choices of cereal brand in the grocery store here? We have imported brand the Kellogg’s, General Mills, Post and others. Those are expensive here, but we have the cheaper brand cereals here that’s made by Nestle Company. Same looks but I know the quality is lower. Nowadays whenever the kids wants cereal we do buy at S & R. Sometimes they have “the buy one and get one free”. I’m always at the lookout for a good sale there. LOL
That’s nice of you to buy cereal for your friends here to let them taste. I’m sure they’re thrilled about it.
I guess no way out for all of out now, we just had to deal with the high prices.
*** I do find many restaurant prices in PH quite attractive, I wonder if for an individual or couple in The Philippines it might be less costly to just eat out most of the time ? ***——— Probably for the couple that both works, I think it’s better and cheaper for them to eat at the simple restaurant like bbq place, lechon manok (roast chicken restaurant) kinda place or the carenderia (little eatery on the side of the road).
Always good to see you here Bob. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Highly appreciated!
Feyma,
Good info, but are the prices reflected here in the article reflect the cost for these goods in the grocery store, city, or province? Is it cheaper in the province areas markets (not Sari2x) or more expensive for the same items? Or is this your experience based on your outings in Davao? Do you have any info you could provide for province area prices?
Thanks
Hi Chris – To be honest it’s a little expensive in the province to buy dry goods. As you know most of those goods were transported from the city. Also at the province you don’t have many choices, whatever is in the sari-sari store that’s what you have to get there.
But veggies and fruits might be a bit cheaper there. Best bet in the province grow your own herbs, veggies and chickens, pigs, sheep, rabbits or any others. I think you know what I mean.
Have a great day!
Feyma,
Good advice, and we are definitely planning on it. We also may be fortunate enough that we can buy rice almost direct from the fields, well up until we leave Clarin to move to Cebu, then we will have to network. All in all, it’s ok to us to pay a little more as long as we still can live in the Philippines.
Maraming Salamat ! Ingat Po !
I currently live in Las Vegas with my Filipina wife and 3 school age kids. My wife and I plan to retire to Davao after the kids are graduated from school. We want to use Davao as a base to travel throughout Asia. As for the cost of living in Las Vegas, it is relatively cheap compared to other major cities in the US. Our basic living costs run around $2000 per month. This is the same budget we are planning to have in Davao to live.
Hi Robert – I think you and your wife will do good here with the budget you have, if it’s just you and her. Plus if you and your wife maintain a simple lifestyle. I don’t really know in a few years from now how much higher would the prices of everything here be. I still think you guys are okay.
Good luck to you. Hope to see you guys here sometimes in the near future then.
Have a wonderful day!
Hi Feyma,
I agree about inflation being a big concern, but the price you are paying for rice in Davao seems to be higher than what I have paid on our visit l July 2014 and heard from our family in Bohol whom we just sent money to buy a 50 kilogram sack a few days ago . During July 2014 we bought a sack of rice for between 1800 and 1900 pesos that works out to 36-37 pesos/kg. We sent money in January 2015 and our family said they had to pay a little over 2000 pesos for a sack which would put the cost around 40 pesos/kg.
Hi Jay – Oh yeah. So true.
Honestly we have so many choices of the rice here. We also have those kind of prices your paying even less. But I chose a bit better and a little higher quality. We bought those cheaper one before, problem my kids don’t like to eat the leftover rice later they said its a little rough on their mouth, even adding more water when cooking. Even if we make it into fried rice, still not good. So I bought 3 kinds of rice and mix it. Kids likes it a lot now.
Thank you for stopping by!
Hi Feyma,
I actually looked it up on-line and the cheapest rice was 32 pesos/kg and the highest was 65 pesos/kg. That is indeed a big price range. My wife usually buys the second highest quality. My wife’s eldest sister and her husband moved to Bohol and my brother-in-law was actually complaining that the prices were higher for groceries in Bohol than Manila which kind of surprised me.
With the drop in fuel prices maybe that will bring down food prices because it will cost less to transport.
The $BDI index (the shipping index) is at a critical last support level before it drops down to new historic lows.
It looks imminent to me.
http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/BDIY:IND/chart
This is the true reason behind the Manila empty containers.
There is nothing to be shipped!
If the $BDI drops further down, the world wide shipping business will be in trouble very soon and our grocery bills will shoot sky high!
Food inflation looks certain at this point.
What I meant is Food HYPER-INFLATION…!!!
Think if you check the last ten years have seen big increases in food everywhere
Yes indeed, people who think that live in the Philippines is cheap in general really need to have a second look. Food, especially vegetables, and milk-based items or everything imported can be expensive, in many cases the prices are actually higher than in places like Germany (due to lots of competition there) and selection is veeeery limited. Yes there are endless rows of chips, candies and other junk food in many stores for only a few pesos, but so much (healthy food) is missing compared to Europe, US etc. and if available priced much higher.
Hi Feyma
As a follow up, this article was posted by BBC Correspondent Rico Hizon on his Facebook page.
http://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/philippines-one-worlds-inexpensive-countries/
I’m not sure where their figures come from but I consider electricity very expensive in the PHI.