Inflation heats up to near one-year high in January

By Katherine K. Chan, Reporter

Philippine inflation accelerated to its fastest pace in nearly a year in January amid a faster increase in rental rates and electricity prices, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.

Headline inflation stood at 2% in January, picking up from the 1.8% in December but slowing from the 2.9% in the same month last year.

This was the fastest pace seen in 11 months or since the 2.1% in February 2025.

It also marked the first time in almost a year that inflation hit the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) 2%-4% target.

The January clip was also faster than the median forecast of 1.8% from a BusinessWorld poll of 18 economists, but was within the central bank’s 1.4%-2.2% estimate for the month.

This, as inflation for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels settled at 3.3%, the fastest since the 3.8% in August 2024.

Broken down, inflation for electricity quickened to 6.5% in January from the revised 4% in December, while rental prices picked up by 2.9% during the month from 2.4% in December.

Core inflation likewise accelerated to 2.8% in January, from 2.6% in the same month last year and 2.4% in December.