The Philippines' inflation rate continued its downward trend, easing to 4.7% in July from <a href="https://www.dzrh.com.ph/post/bsp-forecasts-inflation-to-settle-5.3percent-in-june" target="_blank" rel="noopener">5.4%</a> in June 2023, <a href="https://psa.gov.ph/system/files/psd/Press%20Release%20on%20CPI%20for%20All%20Income%20Households%20for%20July%202023_r4d7f.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Philippine Statistics Authority reported</a>.
This marks the sixth consecutive month of deceleration in the overall inflation rate and represents the lowest rate since March 2022 when it stood at 4.0%.&nbsp;
The July 2023 record is significantly lower as compared to the 6.4% inflation rate in July 2022.
The average inflation rate for the first seven months of 2023 settled at 6.8%.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
JUST IN: Inflation rate bumaba sa 4.7 percent nitong Hulyo mula 5.4 percent noong Hunyo - PSA | DZRH News<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SamaSamaTayoPilipino?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SamaSamaTayoPilipino</a> <a href="https://t.co/EeYbLSt7Vo">pic.twitter.com/EeYbLSt7Vo</a>
&mdash; DZRH NEWS (@dzrhnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/dzrhnews/status/1687271445280497665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2023</a></blockquote>
The latest moderation in overall inflation during July 2023 was attributed to several factors.
Notably, the year-on-year increase in the prices of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels slowed down to 4.5% from 5.6% in June 2023.&nbsp;
Additionally, the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages category also contributed to the decline, with an inflation rate of 6.3% in July 2023, down from 6.7% in the previous month.&nbsp;
Furthermore, the transport sector witnessed a faster annual decrease of -4.7% in July as compared to -3.1% in June.
The inflation rates of alcoholic beverages and tobacco also decreased to 10.9% from 11.6%, while clothing and footwear eased to 4.8% from 5.1%.
Furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance saw a decrease to 5.8% from 6.0%.&nbsp;
Similarly, the inflation rates for recreation, sport, and culture declined to 4.7% from 4.8%.&nbsp;
Food inflation at the national level continued its downward trajectory for the sixth consecutive month in July 2023, settling at 6.3%.&nbsp;
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) earlier <a href="https://www.dzrh.com.ph/post/bsp-forecasts-lower-inflation-in-july" target="_blank" rel="noopener">predicted</a> that the inflation rate in July will fall within the range of 4.1% to 4.9%.
During his second State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has emphasized that inflation was one of the biggest problem the country had specially during the post-pandemic economic recovery.
With the downtrend in inflation, Marcos highlighted that the Philippines it is <a href="https://www.dzrh.com.ph/post/marcos-on-inflation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">moving in the right direction</a>.

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Inflation rate slows down to 4.7% in July