PH inflation jumps to 3.3% in November

Inflation in the Philippines accelerated to 3.3% in November, its highest rate since March last year, driven primarily by a faster increase in food prices.

This marks the second consecutive month of increasing inflation, up from 2.5% in October and significantly higher than the 1.3% recorded in November 2019.

The November inflation rate surpassed the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' forecast range of 2.4% to 3.2%.

The heavily-weighted Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages index saw an annual increase of 4.3%, which was the main driver of the overall inflation surge.

For the poor, the rate of increase in prices of basic commodities rose to 3.6% year-on-year last month.

National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa stated that faster price increases in fish, vegetables, and meat pushed inflation faster last month as supply and delivery of food products were affected by a string of typhoons since late October.