Fuel, transport costs push inflation to 7.8% in October 2026

MANILA, Philippines — Headline inflation accelerated to 7.8% in October, marking the highest figure since February 2023, when it reached 8.6%.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday, November 5, that transport costs primarily drove the uptrend, with the index surging to 20.1% from 14.6% in September. Higher fuel prices also pushed up housing, water, electricity and gas indices to 9.3% from 8.4% in the previous month.

Food inflation, meanwhile, eased slightly to 6.4% from 6.8%, owing to slower annual increases in the indices of fish and vegetables.

Faster increases, however, were still seen in rice and corn prices, with inflation accelerating to 20.7% from 20.3% and 19.3% from 17.3%, respectively.

Core inflation also rose to 5.4%. An increase in the metric, which excludes volatile food and energy items, suggests broader price pressures affecting the country's economy.

The peso's purchasing power has been on a downward trend since January. Data from the statistics agency showed that a peso in September 2026 was worth only P0.68 relative to its 2018 base value.

As long as inflation remains above the central bank's 3% target, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) says the country will remain on a tightening cycle.

The central bank raised its key policy rate by 50 basis points to 5.5% in October, bringing total rate hikes to 125 basis points this year alone.

The BSP will next meet on December 17 and release its final monetary policy report on December 23.