Philippines: Inflation ebbs in November from October
Latest reading: Consumer prices were up 1.5% in annual terms in November, following a 1.7% increase in the previous month. As a result, inflation remained below the floor of the Central Bank’s 2.0–4.0% target range for the ninth consecutive month.
Relative to the prior month’s figures, price pressures reduced for food and non-alcoholic beverages in November (+0.1% in annual terms vs +0.5% in October). In contrast, there were higher price pressures for clothing and footwear (+1.8% vs +1.7% in October), housing and utilities (+2.9% vs +2.7% in October) and transport (+1.7% vs +0.9% in October).
Finally, consumer prices rose 0.04% in November on a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, following a 0.08% increase in the prior month.
Panelist insight: United Overseas Bank’s Julia Goh and Loke Siew Ting commented on the outlook:
“For 2026, we are maintaining our inflation forecast at 2.5%, primarily reflecting upside risks from base effects, potential electricity tariff adjustments, higher rice import duties, and unexpected weather-related supply disruptions. The favorable base effect from rice prices is anticipated to dissipate heading into 2026. Moreover, the reimposition of the rice import ban from February to April 2026—after a one-month rice import window in January 2026—will likely exert additional upward pressure on rice prices next year.”