Background

In 2023, TIME reported, "...as of Monday, Jan. 9, red and white onions in the Philippines were sold for as high as 600 pesos ($10.88) per kilogram, or about $5 per pound, based on the agriculture department’s monitoring of Manila-area market prices. That’s about three times as expensive as chicken and 25%-50% more expensive than pork or beef, according to the same market monitoring estimates.

The cost of a kilogram of onions is greater than the minimum wage for a day’s work in the Philippines."


This event sparked intrigue worldwide, having people ask, “What caused this?”.

The answer being the country reaching record 14-year-high levels of inflation, as well as a shortage of onions. In the months following the incident, measures such as onion importing had to be taken to alleviate the issue.

If more situations such as this catch Filipinos by surprise, how would we be able to face it?

This led us to ask:

1. Which common household food items saw the highest rate of change or variation in prices over the years?

2. Is the average Filipino household able to afford the increased food prices?

Null Hypothesis	The food items had no significant price increases or variation over the years.
Alternative Hypothesis	A number of food items saw significant price increases or variation over the years.
Action Plan	Analyze food prices in the Philippines over the years and the average household income of Filipinos across the country.