April inflation quickened to 3.8% due to food, transpo costs — PSA

MANILA, Philippines — Food and transport prices once again accelerated the country’s inflation rate, rising by 3.8%, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority's (PSA) report on Tuesday.

During a press briefing on Tuesday, national statistician and PSA chief Claire Dennis Mapa said the inflation ballooned to 3.8% in April 2024, up from 3.7% in March 2024.

April's inflation falls within the forecast range of 3.5% to 4.3% by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Mapa attributed the uptick in inflation to a faster increase in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, which climbed to 6.0% from the previous month’s 5.6%.

The acceleration in the price rise of vegetables, tubers, plantains and similar items, reflected in a 4.3% inflation rate, notably contributed to the increase in prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages.

The slight 0.4% inflation in fish and seafood prices also added to the overall inflation in food and non-alcoholic beverages.

Transportation costs also played a role in the upward trend, with inflation rising to 2.6% from 2.1% in March.

Mapa also connected the significant increase in transportation costs inflation to a 3.6% rise in passenger transport and the surge in oil prices, particularly diesel and gasoline.

The inflation rate for gasoline stood at 3.3%, while diesel recorded 4.2%, both factors contributing to the upward trend in transportation costs' inflation.

Core inflation, on the other hand, slowed to 3.2% in April 2024, marking a decrease from the previous month's 3.4% and significantly lower than April 2023's 7.9%.

Food inflation surged this month to 6.3% from 5.7% in the previous month.

Rice inflation, however, saw a slight decrease, dropping to 23.9% from last month's 24.4%.

Mapa said that the decline is due to the markdown of world rice prices during February and March.