Inflation rate climbed to 6.1 percent in September from 5.3 percent in August on faster increases in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Thursday.
“This was [still] slower than the 6.9 percent inflation in September 2022,” national statistician and civil registrar general Dennis Mapa said in an online briefing.
This brought the average inflation in the first nine months to 6.6 percent, above the 2023 target range of 2 percent to 4 percent.
Mapa said the uptrend in the overall inflation in September was brought about by the higher year-on-year increase in the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages to 9.7 percent from 8.1 percent in August.
Transport, with an inflation rate of 1.2 percent in September from 0.2 percent in August, also contributed to the uptrend of the headline inflation.
The PSA also noted higher annual increases in the indices of health with 4.1 percent inflation from 3.9 percent; recreation, sport and culture, 5.1 percent from 4.9 percent; and education services, 3.6 percent from 2.9 percent.