ZAMBOANGA CITY — The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) recorded a significant decline in its inflation rate in September, marking the fourth-lowest rate nationwide.

This comes as the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA-BARMM) reported on Thursday that the region’s inflation rate fell to 1.5 percent in September from 3.7 percent in August, which was significantly lower than the national average of 1.9 percent for the same period.

Among the regions in the Philippines, the Ilocos Region recorded the lowest inflation rate at 0.6 percent, while the Western Visayas region had the highest at 3.4 percent.

According to PSA-BARMM director Engr. Akan Tula, the decline in BARMM’s inflation rate was primarily due to lower costs in housing, utilities, restaurants and food.