Metro Manila, Philippines – Inflation slowed down to 6.8% in May, driven by a decelerating rise in transportation, food, and energy prices, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announced on Friday, June 5.

May’s inflation reading is 0.4 percentage points lower than the 7.2% recorded in April, which marked a three-year high since the 7.6% rate logged in March 2023. However, it remains significantly higher than the 1.3% rate observed in May 2025.

The latest figure fell below the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) earlier forecast range of 7.1% to 7.9%.

National Statistician Dennis Mapa noted that a major driver of the downturn was transport inflation, which dropped to 16.2% in May from 21.4% in April.

In particular, diesel price inflation saw a massive drop, slowing to 58.5% in May from 122.7% the previous month.

Food, beverages, housing, water, electricity, and liquid fuels also registered slower inflation rates, contributing to the overall cooling of consumer prices.