The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday that the country’s inflation rate for the bottom 30 percent income households increased to 5.2 percent in April 2024 from 4.6 percent in March.
This brings the average inflation for this income group from January to April 2024 to 4.4 percent, lower than what the nation posted in the same period last year at 7.4 percent.
PSA said the main driver of the upward trend for the overall inflation for the said income group was the high year-on-year growth rate of the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 8.1 percent from 7.1 percent in the previous month.
“The slower annual decline in the housing, water, electricity,
gas and other fuels index at 1.9 percent during the month from a 2.5 percent annual decrease in the previous month also contributed to the uptrend of the overall inflation for this income group,” it added.
Food prices also moved at a faster pace at 8.5 percent in April compared to 7.4 percent in March. Its annual increase was observed at 7.8 percent. The PSA attributed this to the annual growth in various food items at 1.7 percent during the month.
Inflation for the same income group in Metro Manila, meanwhile, eased to 3.8 percent in April 2024 from 4.2 percent in March 2024.
The PSA said this downtrend of the inflation in the area was brought about by the lower annual increment in the food and non-alcoholic beverages index at 4.6 percent in April 2024 from 5.2 percent in the previous month.