Metro Manila, Philippines – Inflation accelerated to 7.2% in April, marking a 3.1-percentage-point jump from March as food and fuel prices reached record highs, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday, May 5.
The latest figure breached the government’s forecast range of 5.6% to 6.4%, rising at the fastest pace in more than three years.
The PSA said the pace of increase was due to rising costs in food and non-alcoholic beverages, transport, gasoline prices, and household utilities such as electricity and water.
The statistics agency confirmed that April’s rate is a three-year record since the 7.6% rise recorded in March 2023.
The recent reading is 3.1 percentage points higher than the 4.1% recorded in the previous month.
This logs a 3.1% increase, the highest recorded month-on-month movement since the 5.4% high from December 1993 to January 1994.
Diesel and gasoline inflation rates soared by 124% and 60.5%, respectively, hitting record-highs since 2018.
With April’s figure, year-to-date inflation averages 3.9%, nearing the upper limit of the government’s 2% to 4% target range.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy items, also increased to 3.9% in April 2026 from 3.2% in March 2026.
