Inflation rate in the Philippines eased to a five-year low of 1.8 percent in March from 2.1 percent in February, the statistics agency (PSA) said Friday.
The March figure brought the national average inflation rate for the first three months of 2025 to 2.2 percent, the PSA said in a statement, representing the lower-end of the government’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent for the year. Inflation in March 2024 was 3.7 percent.
Core inflation, which excludes selected food and energy items, eased to 2.2 percent in March from 2.4 percent in February.
The slowdown in overall inflation was mainly due to slower annual increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages, which rose 2.2 percent in March compared with 2.6 percent in February, the PSA said.
A faster year-on-year decrease in the transport index, which fell 1.1 percent in March after a 0.2-percent drop in February, also contributed to the downtrend.
Inflation for restaurants and accommodation services also eased to 2.3 percent in March from 2.8 percent in the previous month.
Food inflation at the national level slowed to 2.3 percent in March from 2.6 percent in February. In March 2024, food inflation was higher at 5.7 percent.
The deceleration in food inflation was primarily driven by a faster year-on-year decline in rice prices, which fell 7.7 percent in March after a 4.9 percent drop in February.
Slower inflation rates were also recorded for meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals (8.2 percent in March vs 8.8 percent in February), and vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses (6.9 percent in March vs 7.1 percent in February).
The corn index saw an annual decline of 1.6 percent in March, compared with a 0.7 percent annual increase in the previous month.
Slower year-on-year increases were observed in the indices of flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals (1.3 percent in March vs 1.4 percent in February), and fruits and nuts (6.7 percent in March vs 6.9 percent in February).