The Philippines’ headline inflation rate increased to 1.7% in September 2025, slightly higher than 1.5% in August, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

This brings the national average inflation from January to September 2025 to 1.7%, still lower than the 1.9% recorded in September 2024.

Transport and Food Drive Inflation Uptick

The PSA said the uptick was mainly due to the 1.0% annual increase in the transport index, reversing the 0.3% decline recorded in August. The food and non-alcoholic beverages index also rose by 1.0%, compared to 0.9% in the previous month.

The restaurants and accommodation services index likewise posted a higher annual increase of 2.4% from 2.3% in August.

Meanwhile, slower inflation was noted in alcoholic beverages and tobacco (4.1% from 4.2%), health (2.8% from 2.9%), and personal care and miscellaneous goods and services (2.4% from 2.5%).

The rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month’s inflation rates.

Top Contributors to Overall Inflation

The top three contributors to September’s overall inflation were:

1. Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels – 26.2% share (0.4 percentage point)

2. Food and non-alcoholic beverages – 23.1% share (0.4 percentage point)

3. Restaurants and accommodation services – 14.1% share (0.2 percentage point)

Food Inflation Quickens

National food inflation rose to 0.8% in September from 0.6% in August, though still slower than 1.4% in the same month last year.

The faster rate was driven mainly by vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas, and pulses, which jumped 19.4% from 10.0% in August. A slower decline in corn (-4.5% from -11.8%) and higher prices of oils and fats (9.3% from 8.9%) also contributed.

Lower inflation, however, was recorded for meat (6.0% from 7.1%), fish (7.9% from 9.5%), milk and eggs (2.5% from 3.8%), and fruits and nuts (0.5% from 5.2%).

Food inflation contributed 16.0% or 0.3 percentage point to the overall inflation rate.

The top food contributors were:

1. Vegetables and tubers – 1.7 percentage points

2. Fish and seafood – 1.3 percentage points

3. Meat products – 1.2 percentage points

Core Inflation Slows Slightly

Core inflation, which excludes selected food and energy items, slowed to 2.6% in September from 2.7% in August. It was 2.4% in September 2024.

NCR and Areas Outside NCR

NCR Inflation Slows to 2.7%

In the National Capital Region (NCR), inflation eased to 2.7% in September from 2.9% in August. The PSA attributed this to a slower rise in food and non-alcoholic beverages (2.6% from 3.9%) and housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels (4.7% from 5.1%).

However, faster increases were recorded in clothing and footwear (1.8%), health (3.0%), recreation (2.0%), and restaurants (1.6%). The transport index also shifted to a 0.7% increase from a 1.0% decline in August.

AONCR Inflation Climbs to 1.5%

Outside Metro Manila, or in Areas Outside NCR (AONCR), inflation rose to 1.5% in September from 1.1% in August. The increase was driven by higher prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages (0.7% from 0.3%), transport (1.1% from -0.2%), and housing and utilities (1.3% from 1.1%).

Among regions, Central Visayas registered the highest inflation at 4.1%, while the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) posted a faster annual decline of 1.5% from 1.3% in August.