Inflation accelerates to 1.7% in September

Consumer prices climbed for the second straight month in September, accelerating to 1.7 percent from 1.5 percent in August, driven primarily by resurgence in transport prices and faster food inflation, according to data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

- (Ricardo M. Austria)

The September reading brings the national average inflation for the first nine months of the year to 1.7 percent, still below the government target range of two percent to four percent. The latest figure also remains lower than the 1.9 percent recorded a year earlier in September 2024.

The uptrend in overall inflation was largely a result of the Transport Index, which reversed its decline to post a onepercent annual increase in September, a sharp turnaround from the 0.3 percent annual decline observed in August.