The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announced on Tuesday that the country’s inflation rate eased to 1.4% in April 2025, marking the third consecutive month of slowdown.
This is lower than the 1.8% recorded in March 2025, and marks the lowest inflation rate since November 2019, when it stood at 1.2%.
Moreover, this brings the national average inflation rate from January to April 2025 to 2.0%. In comparison, the inflation rate in April 2024 was significantly higher at 3.8%.
Factors behind the inflation decline
The PSA reported that the primary driver of the lower inflation rate in April 2025 was the slower annual increase in the index of food and non-alcoholic beverages, which eased to 0.9% from 2.2% in March.
Furthermore, the faster year-on-year decline in the transport index also contributed to the downtrend, recording a 2.1% drop in April compared to a 1.1% decrease in March 2025.
Slower annual increases were observed in the following commodity groups in April 2025:
- Clothing and footwear: 1.6% (from 1.8%)
- Information and communication: 0.3% (from 0.4%)
- Recreation, sport and culture: 2.1% (from 2.2%)
- Personal care and miscellaneous goods and services: 2.5% (from 2.6%)
On the other hand, higher inflation rates were recorded in the following commodity groups in April 2025:
- Alcoholic beverages and tobacco: 3.7% (from 3.6%)
- Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels: 2.9% (from 1.7%)
- Health: 2.4% (from 2.2%)
Food inflation
Meanwhile, the PSA noted that food inflation at the national level further slowed to 0.7% in April 2025, down from 2.3% in the previous month. In comparison, food inflation in April 2024 was significantly higher at 6.3%.
PSA noted that the decrease was mainly driven by the faster year-on-year decline in the rice index, which dropped by 10.9% in April, compared to a 7.7% decrease in March 2025.
This was followed by slower inflation in vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas, and pulses at 2.3% in April, down from 6.9% in March, as well as in fish and other seafood, which eased to 4.3% from 5.5%.
However, the top three food groups that contributed most to food inflation in April were:
- Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals: 203.3% share or 1.4 percentage points
- Fish and other seafood: 98.1% share or 0.7 percentage point
- Milk, other dairy products, and eggs: 45.0% share or 0.3 percentage point
Core inflation
Core inflation—which excludes selected food and energy items—held steady at 2.2% in April 2025, slower than the 3.2% recorded in the same month last year.
Ultimately, the PSA reported that inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) rose to 2.4% in April 2025 from 2.1% in March, ending a three-month streak of deceleration.
