Inflation rises to 1.5% in August

The rate of increase in consumer prices accelerated last month due to a jump in food prices, with recent weather events heavily impacting the cost of vegetables, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday, Sept. 5.

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Headline inflation accelerated to 1.5 percent in August 2025, faster than the 0.9 percent recorded in July, but still below the 3.3 percent recorded in the same month last year, data from the PSA showed.

From January to August, average inflation stood at 1.7 percent.

According to the PSA, the uptick was mainly driven by food and nonalcoholic beverages, which posted an inflation rate of 0.9 percent and contributed 69.3 percent to the overall figure.

Within this group, vegetables, tubers, and bananas rose by 10 percent, while fish and other seafood climbed 9.5 percent.

PSA chief Dennis Mapa stated that recent typhoons had significantly impacted vegetable prices.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), vegetable inflation reached 26.5 percent, compared with 6.9 percent in areas outside NCR.

"The impact of the typhoons in the past few months has been attributed particularly to vegetables," Mapa said in Filipino, adding that vegetable prices surged in both NCR and other regions in August.