The PSA said the acceleration of the inflation rate was primarily due to the higher annual growth rate in the index for food and non-alcoholic beverages at 7.4 percent, from only 6.3 percent in August.
The housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels annual growth rate of 7.3 percent also contributed to the increase.
The PSA said the higher annual increases in the indices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco; clothing and footwear; furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance; information and communication, recreation, sport, and culture; restaurants and accommodation services; and personal care, and miscellaneous goods and services were also among the factors of inflation increase for the said month.
“On the other hand, lower annual increments were observed in the indices of health at 2.4 percent; transport at 14.5 percent; and education services at 3.5 percent,” the PSA said.
“Meanwhile, financial services retained its previous month’s inflation rate,” it added.
The agency said the core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy items in the headline inflation, was lower at 4.5 percent in September 2022, from 4.6 percent in August 2022.
Inflation for food at the national level rose to 7.7 percent in September 2022, from 6.5 percent in August 2022.
“The acceleration in the food inflation was primarily influenced by the positive annual growth rate in the index of vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses at 3.5 percent, from -2.7 percent in August 2022,” it said.
The PSA also noted a faster annual growth rate for rice; corn; flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals; fish and other seafood; milk, other dairy products and eggs; oils and fats; sugar, confectionery and desserts; and ready-made food and other food products not classified under other food groups.
The year-to-date average inflation stood at 5.1 percent, still within the administration’s projected range of 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent for the entire 2022. (SunStar Philippines)