Inflation soared to a 43-month high of 6.1 percent in June, on higher food, transport and electricity costs, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show.
The PSA said in a report Tuesday the inflation rate moved up from 5.4 percent in May and 3.7 percent a year ago. It averaged 4.4 percent in the first half, above the government’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent for the year.
“The uptrend of inflation for June 2022 was primarily brought about by the higher annual growth rate in the index for food and non-alcoholic beverages at 6.0 percent from 4.9 percent in the previous month,” the PSA said.
It said inflation for food at the national level rose to 6.4 percent in June from 5.2 percent in May, led by increased prices of meat, fruits and nuts.
This was followed by transport whose index grew by 17.1 percent annually, from 14.6 percent in May 2022.
The PSA also noted higher inflation for the following commodity groups: clothing and footwear at 2.2 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, 6.6 percent; furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance, 2.9 percent; health, 2.6 percent; recreation, sport and culture, 1.9 percent; and personal care and miscellaneous goods and services, 2.6 percent.
“On the contrary, the annual mark-up in the information and communication index decelerated to 0.5 percent. Moreover, the indices of education services, restaurants and accommodation services and financial services retained their previous month’s inflation rates,” the PSA said.