Inflation rose for 2nd month in December to 2.5%

January 7, 2020

Philippine inflation for December climbed for the second month but the average for 2019 landed within the government's official target.

The Philippine Statistics Authority ( PSA) said Tuesday inflation for December went up to 2.5 percent from 1.3 percent on November. For 2019, inflation averaged 2.5 percent from the 2018 average of 5.2 percent.

The government's 2019 target was 1.8 percent to 2.6 percent.

The major contributor to December 2019 inflation was food and non-alcoholic beverage with 1.7 percent. This index accounts for 27.9 percent of annual inflation, said PSA.

The housing, water, electricity, has and other fuels index rose 1.9 percent. This accounts for 17.9 percent of overall inflation.

In the National Capital Region, inflation went up to 2.8 percent. In areas outside NCR was seen in Bicol with 3.3 percent while the lowestv was seen in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at 0.8 percent. DMS