The Philippines’ headline or overall inflation rate for January 2025 remained at 2.9 percent, the same annual growth rate recorded in December 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
The PSA’s consumer price index and inflation rate, released on Wednesday, February 5, indicated that annual increases were observed in the following commodity groups:
- Food and non-alcoholic beverages (3.8% from 3.4%)
- Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (3.5% from 3.1%)
- Transport (11% from 0.9%)
Food and non-alcoholic beverages registered the highest overall rate, contributing 50.3%, or 1.5 percentage points, to January's overall inflation.
A zero percent inflation rate was recorded for financial services in January 2025, from a 0.6% annual decrease in December last year.
Meanwhile, lower inflation rates were seen in the following commodity groups:
- Clothing and footwear
- Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels
- Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance
- Recreation, sport and culture
- Education services
- Restaurants and accommodation services
- Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services
According to PSA, the remaining commodity groups maintained the same annual rate as the previous month.
Additionally, food inflation accelerated in January 2025, contributing to a faster rate due to vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas, and pulses. It rose to 21.1% in January from 14.2% in December 2024. Aside from that, the annual increases were also influenced by the following:
- Fish and other seafood
- Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals
Meanwhile, the core inflation slowed to 2.6% in January 2025, from 2.8% in December 2024.
