The Philippines’ headline inflation increased to 2.3 percent in October, from 1.9 percent in September 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
According to the PSA’s Inflation Report Consumer Price Index released on Tuesday, November 5, the country’s national average inflation rate is at 3.3%, summarizing all the data from January to October this year.
Inflation for this month was primarily influenced by the “faster annual increment in the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 2.9 percent during the month from 1.4 percent in September 2024,” PSA said.
Besides that, transport also contributed to the data found, with a slower year-on-year decrease of 2.1% this month, from a 2.4% annual drop in September 2024.
According to PSA, the following commodity groups registered lower inflation rates in October 2024:
- Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (3.0% from 3.1%)
- Clothing and footwear (2.7% from 2.9%)
- Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels,(2.4% from 3.3%)
- Furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance, 2.4% from 2.6%)
- Information and communication, 0.2% from 0.4%)
- Recreation, sport, and culture, 2.6% from 2.8%)
- Restaurants and accommodation services, 3.9% from 4.1%); and
- Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 2.8% from 2.9%.
Additionally, the top three commodity groups that contributed to the overall inflation rate were: food and non-alcoholic beverages; Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels; and restaurants and accommodation services.
In October 2023, the inflation rate was higher at 4.9%.
