Inflation rate slightly up to 2.5% in October

The average price increase of basic goods and services for the first 10 months of the year remained at 2.5 percent. (PNA-Bacolod file photo)

MANILA – The country’s inflation rate increased slightly to 2.5 percent in October from the previous month’s 2.3 percent due mainly to higher food prices, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday.

The average price increase of basic goods and services for the first 10 months of the year remained at 2.5 percent.

In a virtual press briefing, PSA Undersecretary and national statistician Dennis Mapa said the main drivers in the uptrend of inflation last month were food and non-alcoholic beverages, particularly meat and fish.

Mapa said the weighted average price of pork in the National Capital Region (NCR) reached PHP260 per kilo in October from PHP202 last year; while those in areas outside NCR (AONCR) increased to PHP208 per kilo from PHP186.

“The source of increase in prices is basically Luzon, particularly provinces that are near the NCR,” he added.

Mapa said the food and non-alcoholic beverages index, which rose by 2.1 percent and with a 33.2-percent share in the overall inflation, contributed mainly to the slight increase in prices in October.

He also attributed last month’s inflation to higher prices of restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services, particularly increases in costs of barbershop and education services.

He added that transport, with 7.9-percent inflation and 26.2-percent share in overall inflation in October, likewise pushed prices higher.

Mapa particularly cited tricycle fare in AONCR where the minimum charge per passenger averaged PHP14.

25 from PHP11 last year, resulting in a 30-percent increase in the inflation for tricycle fare.

Inflation in the NCR increased to 2.5 percent in October from 2.2 percent the previous month; while in those areas outside the NCR also went up to 2.5 percent from 2.4 percent.