Philippine inflation slowed down to 6.8 percent in May after it jumped to three-year high of 7.2 percent in April.

In a press conference on Friday, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said the slower inflation rate brings the year-to-date average inflation rate to 4.5 percent.

The deceleration of inflation was mainly driven by a slower increase in transport costs to 16.2 percent in May from 21.4 percent in April.

This was due to slower price increases in diesel (58.5 percent from 122.7 percent) and gasoline (51.6 percent from 59.6 percent). This also contributed to the overall decrease in non-food inflation to 7.4 percent from 8.2 percent.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages also slowed down to 5.7 percent in May from 6 percent in April noting slower increase in prices of vegetables and tuber (6.2 percent from 10.4 percent), meat particularly pork (-2.5 percent from -1.9 percent) and fish or other seafoods (8.8 percent from 9.4 percent).

Electricity inflation rose to 8.9 percent from 8.3 percent, driven by higher generation charges, tighter grid supply, and peso depreciation, which outweighed the effects of fee suspensions, refund acceleration, and VAT exemptions under the Philippine Natural Gas Industry Development Act.

Mapa noted that rice remain the leading commodity that contributes in the overall inflation with 15.6 percent inflation rate (1.1 percent point share), followed by gasoline with 51.6 inflation (0.8 percent point share), restaurants, cafe and the like with 6.8 inflation (0.7 percent point share), LPG with 41 inflation (0.6 percent point share) and Rentals with 3.7 percent inflation (0.5 percent point share).

"For rice the inflation rate is 15.6 (it is the highest since) 20.9 percent last July 2024," he said.

“While the easing of inflation in May is encouraging, Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan stressed that the government "recognize (s) that price pressures remain elevated."

"Thus, well-targeted government interventions are critical to cushioning the impact of domestic shocks such as weather disturbances and external headwinds such as ongoing geopolitical tensions, while preserving business continuity," he said.

"The government ...will continue to monitor inflation and pursue measures to strengthen domestic food production, improve logistics and market efficiency, and ensure that vulnerable sectors receive timely support,” the country’s chief economist added. Robina Asido/PHS