Headline inflation rate in the Philippines rose further from 4.9 percent in April 2022 to 5.4 percent in May 2022. This was the highest recorded inflation since December 2018. In May of the previous year, inflation was lower at 4.1 percent.
The acceleration in the country’s inflation rate in May 2022 was primarily due to the higher annual growths in the food and non-alcoholic beverages index at 4.9 percent, and transport index at 14.6 percent. The following commodity groups also contributed to the upward trend of the headline inflation during the month:
a. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 6.8 percent;
b. Clothing and footwear, 2.1 percent;
c. Recreation, sport and culture, 1.7 and
d. Personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services, 2.5 percent.
On the contrary, inflation rates were lower for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 6.5 percent; and furnishing, household equipment and routine household maintenance at 2.5 percent.
The rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month’s inflation rates.
Meanwhile, inflation for food at the national level increased further to 5.2 percent in May 2022, from 4.0 percent in April 2022. In May 2021, food inflation was lower at 3.7 percent.
The uptick in the food inflation was primarily influenced by the double-digit annual growths in the vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses index at 15.2 percent, and oils and fats index at 13.6 percent. In addition, higher annual increments were recorded in the following food groups:
a. Flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals, 4.8 percent;
b. Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals, 5.4 percent;
c. Fish and other seafood, 6.2 percent;
Inflation rate swells to 5.4 percent in May 2022
d. Milk, other dairy products and eggs, 1.5 percent;
e. Sugar, confectionery and desserts, 8.7 percent; and
f Ready-made food and other food products, n.e.c, 3.5 percent.
The indices for rice and corn exhibited lower annual increases of 1.5 percent and 24.4 percent, respectively, while fruits and nuts index declined during the month at an annual rate of -2.4 percent.
Inflation in NCR, likewise, increased further to 4.7 percent in May 2022, from 4.4 percent in April 2022. In May 2021, inflation in the region was observed at 2.6 percent.
The higher inflation in the area was mainly due to the higher annual increase in the food and non-alcoholic beverages index at 4.6 percent in May 2022, from 3.4 percent in the previous month. Also, contributing largely to the uptrend of inflation in NCR was transport with an inflation rate of 13.8 percent in May 2022, from 12.3 percent in the previous month.
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