Headline inflation eased to a four-month low of 6.2 percent in July but inflation for lower income households increased due to rice prices.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Undersecretary and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa reported that headline inflation further slowed from 6.4 percent in June as easing transport costs and improving supply conditions tempered price pressures.

Headline inflation covers all goods and services and volatile food and energy sectors.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said it is ''prepared to take further monetary action as need to ensure that inflation returns close to the 3 percent.'' Inflation averaged at five percent from January to July.

However, Mapa said inflation rates for the bottom 30 percent income households or the poor population rose to 8.2 percent in July from 8 percent in June.

"There is one commodity that really moves the inflation rate for the bottom 30 percent income households and that is the price of rice," he said.

"In all income (households) the weight of rice was at 8. 87 percent or around 9 percent, on the other hand for the bottom 30 percent income households it was at 17.8 percent or about 18 percent so its like the weight was double," he added.

Mapa noted that the price of the regular milled rice which is usually bought by the poor Filipino families has increased to 19.3 percent.

"It pulled the inflation rate for the bottom 30 percent income household," he explained.

Mapa also added that the year-on-year average price of regular milled rice also increased to about 19.9 percent.

"The average price per kilo is 49.55 pesos for July 2026, last July 2025 it was just at 41.31 pesos per kilo that is about 19.9 percent year on year increase," he stressed.

In his report, Mapa shows that rice got the highest rank among the top five contributors of July 2026 inflation. It increased to 17.1 percent in July from 15.0 percent in June followed by the electricity that reached 17.0 percent in July from 12.3 percent in June.

Mapa stressed that the 17 percent electricity inflation in July 2026 is the highest recorded in the past three years.

"This is the highest since the 17.3 percent inflation recorded in March 2023 that was around 3 years and 3 months (ago)," he said. Robina Asido/PHS