THE Philippines’ inflation rate for the bottom 30% income households increased to 1.6 percent in January 2026, up from 1.1 percent in December 2025, according to the latest data. This is lower than the 2.4 percent inflation rate recorded in January 2025.
The primary driver of this upward trend was the faster year-on-year growth in housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, with an inflation rate of 3.2 percent in January 2026 compared to 1.7 percent in December 2025. The food and non-alcoholic beverages index also contributed, with a faster annual growth rate of 0.6 percent in January 2026 from 0.2 percent in December 2025.
The top three contributors to the January 2026 overall inflation for the bottom 30% income households were housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (29.4% share), restaurants and accommodation services (22.7% share), and food and non-alcoholic beverages (20.8% share).
Food inflation for the bottom 30% income households at the national level recorded a year-on-year growth rate of 0.3 percent in January 2026, compared to an annual decline of 0.1 percent in the previous month. The uptrend in food inflation was mainly due to the slower annual decrease in the index of rice. Fish and other seafood emerged as the top contributor to the food inflation.
