The Philippines recorded a significant slowdown in inflation for July 2025, with the headline rate easing to 0.9%, down from 1.4% the previous month, according to the latest report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The decline was mainly attributed to the slower annual increases in the cost of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels—down to 2.1% from 3.2% in June. Food and non-alcoholic beverages also registered a slight annual drop of 0.2%, further easing the pressure on household spending.
Transport costs continued to fall as well, with a 2.0% annual decrease in July compared to a 1.6% decline the previous month. Other categories that contributed to the deceleration in inflation included education services, which dropped to 4.3% from 5.3%, and personal care and miscellaneous goods and services, which dipped slightly to 2.3% from 2.4%.
On the other hand, some commodity groups posted higher annual increases. Prices for alcoholic beverages and tobacco climbed to 4.2% from 3.8%, while clothing and footwear rose to 1.8% from 1.7%. The health category inched up to 2.6% from 2.4%, and slight upticks were also seen in information and communication, and restaurant and accommodation services.
The PSA identified three main drivers of July’s overall inflation: housing and utilities, which accounted for a 0.4 percentage point share; restaurants and accommodation services (0.2 percentage point share); and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (0.1 percentage point share).
As for food inflation, the agency highlighted that a sharper year-on-year decline in rice prices—now at -15.9% from -14.3% in June—played a key role in the broader decrease in the food index. Cereals and cereal products had the most significant impact, contributing a -3.5 percentage point share to food inflation, followed by vegetables and related items (-0.4 point), and sugar and desserts (-0.1 point).
