Manila, Oct 7
The Philippines' year-on-year headline inflation quickened to 1.7 per cent in September from 1.5 per cent in August, due to higher transport and food costs, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Tuesday.
In a news conference, PSA Chief Dennis Mapa said that the uptrend in overall inflation in September was primarily driven by the annual increase in the transport index, which rose to 1 per cent from a yearly decline of 0.3 per cent in August.
Also contributing to the uptrend in overall inflation was the higher annual increment in the food and non-alcoholic beverages index, at 1 per cent in September, compared to 0.9 per cent in the previous month.
Mapa said that the September inflation rate brings the national average inflation from January to September 2025 to 1.7 per cent. In September 2024, the inflation rate was higher at 1.9 per cent.