Inflation rate in October 2023 cooled to a three-month low of 4.9 percent from 6.1 percent in September, pulled down by slower increases in the prices of food and nonalcoholic beverages, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Tuesday.
National statistician and civil registrar general Claire Dennis Mapa said in an online briefing the October print was also slower than 7.7 percent a year ago.
“This brings the average in the first 10 months to 6.4 percent,” Mapa said. The October inflation was the slowest since it settled at 4.7 percent in July 2023.
“The downtrend in the overall inflation in October 2023 was primarily brought about by the slower year-on-year increase in the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 7.0 percent in October 2023 from 9.7 percent in the previous month,” Mapa said.
The restaurants and accommodation services, with an inflation rate of 6.3 percent in October from 7.1 percent in September, also contributed to the downtrend of the headline inflation, the PSA said.
Inflation peaked at 8.7 percent in January 2023 before easing in the next six months. But higher food prices triggered an inflation spike to 5.3 percent in August and 6.1 percent in September.