The Philippine inflation hit a new record high of 8.7 percent in January 2023 from 8.1 percent in December 2022, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday, January 7.
According to PSA, the 8.7 percent inflation rate in January 2023 is the fastest pace in 15 years.
The January 2023 inflation headline is also above the 7.5 percent to 8.3 percent inflation rate projected by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
PSA said the January 2023 inflation is driven by housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels with 8.5 percent inflation and a 50.8 percent contribution to the uptrend.
This was followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages with 10.7 inflation and 29.9 percent contribution share.
Restaurants and accommodation services also pushed the January 2023 inflation rate with 7.6 percent inflation and 9.1 percent contribution share.
The January 2023 inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) stood at 8.6 percent, higher than the 7.6 percent in the previous month.
Meanwhile, the inflation rate in areas outside (AONCR) also increased further to 8.7 percent in January 2023.
The main contributor to the January 2023 inflation in both NCR and AONR is housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels with 6.9 percent and 9.0 percent, respectively.
Western Visayas had the highest inflation rate with 10.3 percent recorded.
On the other hand, Eastern Visayas had the lowest with 6.9 percent, below the national inflation rate.
