July saw an increase in the country's inflation to 4.4%, over the government's goal range of 2% to 4%. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the most recent rate is lower than the 4.7% rate in July 2023 but higher than the 3.7% rate in June 2024.
Since November 2023, inflation has not exceeded the target range until now.
Causes of upward trend
According to the PSA, the increase was caused by faster year-over-year increases in housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, as well as heavily weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages.
A total of 1.6 percentage points, or 37.2% of the 4.4% inflation rate for the month, came from rice. However, PSA took note that the rate of inflation in rice decreased from 22.5% in June to 20.9% in July.
In addition to rice, the following other major factors contributed to July inflation: rentals (0.3 percentage points), LPG (0.3 percentage points), restaurants and similar establishments (0.5 percentage points), and fresh or chilled tomatoes (0.2 percentage points).
Inflation for the poor
Lower income levels continue to be the most affected by inflation, with the inflation rate for households earning less than 30% of the national average reaching 5.8%.
For these poorest households, high rice prices increased the inflation rate by 3.5 percentage points.
According to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the government is preparing measures to safeguard food security and safeguard the most vulnerable groups.
“The government is relentlessly working to address our nation’s most pressing concern of ensuring food security for every Filipino amid the faster rise in prices in July and the expected typhoons and rains due to the [potential] onset of La Niña this August,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.
