WHOLESALE price growth of general goods eased further in May to its slowest pace in three months, led by the heavily weighted food index, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said in a report.
Citing preliminary data, the PSA said the general wholesale price index (GWPI) eased to 3.5% year on year, against 4% in April. A year earlier, the rate had been 2.3%.
The May indicator was the weakest reading since the 2.9% logged in February 2025.
Year to date, bulk price growth averaged 3.3%, slightly higher than the year-earlier 2.8%.
Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said in an e-mail that the year-on-year growth pickup in May was partly due to the midterm elections, which boosted demand for various goods and services.
He added that the May growth rate slowed from April as the campaign period wound down days before the May 12 midterm elections.
“The downtrend in the annual growth rate of the GWPI was mainly caused by the slower annual increase in the index of food at 2.2% in May 2025 from 2.9% in the previous month,” the PSA said in a report.
Additionally, the PSA said slower growth was also seen in the commodity groups of chemicals including animal and vegetable oils and fats, (14.5% from 15.3%), manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials, (0.9% from 1.3%), and machinery and transport equipment (1% from 1.4%).
Meanwhile, price growth accelerated in crude materials, inedible except fuels (96.2% from 94.6%), and beverages and tobacco (4.3% from 3.7%).
Price growth slowed in Luzon in May to 3.7% from 4.3% in April. The year-earlier reading had been 2.2%.
Meanwhile, price growth in the Visayas accelerated to 1.3% from 0.7% in April. Price growth had come down significantly from the 5.6% posted in May 2024.
Mindanao price growth eased to 0.9% from 1.1% in April and 1.9% in May 2024.
Mr. Ricafort said wholesale prices and inflation will be a function of external factors, especially those arising from the situation in the Middle East.
“This could determine any future volatility in global crude oil and other commodity prices (still uncertain; wait-and-see mode), since these are beyond the country’s reasonable control.” — Matthew Miguel L. Castillo
