PRICE GROWTH at the wholesale level eased to 3% in June, the weakest reading in four months, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported, noting that price growth in the chemicals segment, including animal and vegetable oils and fats, slowed.
Citing preliminary data, the PSA said the general wholesale price index (GWPI) reading of 3% represented a pickup from the 2.6% posted a year earlier.
The June indicator was the weakest since the 2.9% reported in February.
In the first half, the national GWPI averaged 3.3%, against 2.7% a year earlier.
“The downtrend in the annual growth rate of the GWPI was mainly caused by the slower annual increase in the index of chemicals including animal and vegetable oils and fats at 12.7% in June 2025 from 14.5% in the previous month,” the PSA said in a report.
Chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats, account for a tenth of the GWPI.
The PSA added that a slowdown were seen in the heavily weighted food segment, where price growth slowed to 1.9% in June from 2.2% in May.
Price growth in beverages and tobacco also eased to 2.6% from 4.3% the prior month. Slowdowns were also noted in crude materials, inedible except fuels (88.7% in June from 96.2% May), and manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials (0.8% from 0.9%).
Meanwhile, price growth accelerated in machinery and transport equipment (1.1% from 1%) and miscellaneous manufactured articles (0.3% from -0.1%).
The decline in the subindex for mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials moderated to 2.6% from 4.4%.
The GWPI for Luzon eased to 3.2% in June from 3.7% in May. Price growth exceeded the 2.4% posted a year earlier.
Price growth in Luzon was also driven by the food index, which slowed to 8.8% in June from 10.6% in May, the PSA said.
In the Visayas, growth in the GWPI accelerated to 2.5% in June from 1.3% in May. It decelerated from the year-earlier reading of 5%.
Mindanao price growth accelerated to 1.1% in June from 0.9% in May. In June 2024, the increase in bulk prices had been 2.5%. — Pierce Oel A. Montalvo
