Consumer prices in the Philippines rose at their fastest annual pace in more than three years in October 2026, as a sharp acceleration in transport costs and higher utility-related prices pushed the overall inflation rate to 7.8%.
The Philippine Statistics Authority recorded an increase in the year-on-year rate from 7.2% in September. The October figure was the highest since February 2023, when inflation stood at 8.6%.
The figures measure how prices compared with the same month a year earlier. They do not mean that prices rose by 7.8% between September and October. In October 2025, the annual inflation rate was 1.7%.
Transport leads the acceleration
Transport prices were the main influence on the increase in the headline rate. The transport index rose by 20.1% on a year earlier, compared with an annual increase of 14.6% in September.
Prices in the combined housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels category also climbed more quickly. Its annual rate rose to 9.3% from 8.4% the previous month.
Those categories contributed to the overall rate alongside food and non-alcoholic beverages. Food and non-alcoholic beverages accounted for 2.4 percentage points of headline inflation, housing and utilities 1.9 points, and transport 1.8 points.
Faster price growth was not confined to those groups. The annual rate for restaurants and accommodation services rose to 7.7% from 7.0%, while the rate for health-related items increased to 5.9% from 5.6%.
Food prices still rising, but more slowly
Food inflation eased to 6.4% in October from 6.8% in September. The food index was still higher than a year earlier, but its annual rate of increase slowed. That does not mean the overall food index fell.
Slower annual increases for fish and for a group including vegetables, tubers and pulses helped to bring down the food inflation rate. The fish index rose by 5.0% year on year, compared with 7.4% in September. The vegetables group rose by 5.7%, down from 10.5%.
Other staples moved in the opposite direction. Rice prices rose by 20.7% from a year earlier, compared with a 20.3% annual increase in September. The annual increase for corn accelerated to 19.3% from 17.3%.
A higher rate for lower-income households
A separate measure for households in the bottom 30% by income showed annual inflation of 9.5% in October, up from 9.0% in September. It tracks a basket weighted to reflect the spending patterns of that group, rather than the basket for all households.
For that measure, transport prices rose by 21.7% on a year earlier, compared with 15.8% in September. The annual increase for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels reached 11.7%, up from 10.4%.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages accounted for just over half of the measured inflation rate for lower-income households. The index for that combined category rose by 9.0% year on year, although that was slower than its 9.4% rise in September. Individual households will experience price changes differently depending on what they buy.
Differences across the country
Inflation accelerated both in the National Capital Region, which includes Manila, and in areas outside it. The capital region’s headline rate rose to 5.9% from a revised 5.3%, while the rate outside the region reached 8.2%, up from 7.6%.
Among regions outside the capital, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao recorded the highest headline rate at 9.9%. MIMAROPA had the lowest at 6.7%.
Core inflation, which excludes selected food and energy items, rose to 5.4% from a revised 4.8% in September. The measure provides another view of price movements, although it does not remove the effect of food and fuel costs from household budgets.
The figures follow a 22 October decision by the central bank to raise its key policy rate by half a percentage point to 5.5%, effective the following day. At the time, the bank said it remained open to further increases. Its next policy meeting is scheduled for 17 December.
Featured image: AI-generated illustration.
