Fuel, transport costs push inflation to 7.8% in October 2026

A gas station in Quezon City on Aug. 16, 2026 offers additional fuel discounts to partner public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers, on top of the recent increase of government fuel subsidy, to help lessen the burden of high fuel cost.

The Philippine STAR / Miguel de Guzman

MANILA, Philippines — Headline inflation accelerated to 7.8% in October, marking the highest figure since February 2023, when it reached 8.6%.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday, November 5, that transport costs primarily drove the uptrend, with the index surging to 20.1% from 14.6% in September. Higher fuel prices also pushed up housing, water, electricity and gas indices to 9.3% from 8.4% in the previous month.

Food inflation, meanwhile, eased slightly to 6.4% from 6.8%, owing to slower annual increases in the indices of fish and vegetables.

Faster increases, however, were still seen in rice and corn prices, with inflation accelerating to 20.7% from 20.3% and 19.3% from 17.3%, respectively.

Core inflation also rose to 5.4%. An increase in the metric, which excludes volatile food and energy items, suggests broader price pressures affecting the country's economy.

The peso's purchasing power has been on a downward trend since January. Data from the statistics agency showed that a peso in September 2026 was worth only P0.68 relative to its 2018 base value.

As long as inflation remains above the central bank's 3% target, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) says the country will remain on a tightening cycle.

The central bank raised its key policy rate by 50 basis points to 5.5% in October, bringing total rate hikes to 125 basis points this year alone.

The BSP will next meet on December 17 and release its final monetary policy report on December 23.