Higher food prices push inflation up to 2.4% in February 2026

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines’ inflation rate picked up for the third consecutive month to 2.4% in February amid a faster increase in food and beverage prices, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday, March 5.

The latest inflation print places the average figure for the year at 2.2%, within the government’s target range of 2% to 4%.

National Statistician Dennis Mapa said the inflation of prices in the food and beverage basket – which has the heaviest weight on the computation of the inflation rate – jumped to 1.8% from 1.1% in January.

Rice prices, in particular, are now seeing slower deflation at 3.4% from 8.5% in January after experiencing record deflation in 2025. Deflation or negative inflation signifies that price levels for a particular commodity are decreasing. Inflation of corn prices also jumped to 9.4% from 6.5%.

Mapa noted that prices of regular milled rice have been steadily increasing since November from around P42.95 per kilo to P45.27 in February.

“Meron tayong base effect dahil ang mga prices natin last year ay medyo mataas, but of course dahil tumataas na rin ‘yung presyo ng bigas, bumababa na ang [deflation] rate,” he said.

(There’s a base effect because our prices last year were quite high, but of course since the price of rice is increasing, the deflation rate is slowing down too.)

With prices continuing to increase based on the PSA’s weekly data collection, Mapa said the uptrend in inflation may persist in the coming months.

For February, inflation in Metro Manila was steady at 1.9% despite faster price increases in food and clothing. Meanwhile, inflation in areas outside Metro Manila quickened to 2.5% from 2% in January due to increases in restaurants and accommodation prices.

Central Visayas logged the fastest inflation rate in the country, surging to 6% from 5.2% in January, while Cagayan Valley recorded the slowest inflation print at 0.4% from -0.1%.

Inflation for the bottom 30% of households also surged to 2.5% from 1.6% amid a surge in food prices.

While oil prices recorded low inflation in February, Mapa noted that the current tensions in the Middle East may reverse this trend.

Department of Economy, Planning, and Development Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said price conditions remain stable, but vowed to take necessary steps to manage the volatility of oil prices.

According to Balisacan, the government is considering lifting excise taxes on petroleum products if global oil prices breach $80 per barrel.

“The government will implement measures to reduce fuel consumption, first by government offices, and we encourage the private sector to do the same. These measures include the use of shuttle buses, encouraging carpooling, as well as implementing flexible work arrangements such as work-from-home and compressed workweeks,” the country’s socioeconomic planning chief said.

Balisacan also said the government plans to incentivize renewable energy, promote active transport, and strengthen energy conservation programs to reduce the country’s demand for imported oil.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas earlier forecast inflation would fall between 2.3% and 3.1% due to higher rice and fish prices, as well as elevated petroleum prices and higher power rates in areas serviced by the Manila Electric Company. – Rappler.com