MANILA, Philippines — Higher prices of key food items and transport costs pushed inflation up in August, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday.

Consumer price growth increased to 1.5 percent last month, higher than the 0.9 percent recorded in the previous month but lower than the 3.3 percent recorded in the same month last year.

It is higher than the 1.2 percent median forecast of The Manila Times poll of economists but within the central bank’s 1.0- to 1.8 percent estimate for the month.

“The uptrend in the overall inflation in August 2025 was primarily brought about by the annual increase in the heavily-weighted index of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 0.9 percent during the month from an annual decline of 0.2 percent in July 2025,” the PSA said in a statement.

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“The slower annual decrease of transport at 0.3 percent in August 2025 from 2.0 percent in the previous month also contributed to the uptrend,” it added.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy items, also rose to 2.7 percent in August from 2.3 percent in the previous month and last year’s 2.6 percent.

To date, both headline and core inflation still fell within the central bank’s 2.0 to 4.0 percent target at 1.7 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.