MANILA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Year-on-year inflation in the Philippines accelerated to 6.4 percent in July, mainly due to higher prices in food and non-alcoholic beverages and transport, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Friday.
PSA head Dennis Mapa told a press conference that the July inflation is the highest recorded since October 2018, adding the country's average inflation in the first seven months this year stood at 4.7 percent.
Mapa said the primary source of the upward trend was the higher annual growth rate in the index for food and non-alcoholic beverages at 6.9 percent. The transport index grew by 18.1 percent.
He said the higher yearly increases in the prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 8.5 percent; clothing and footwear, 2.5 percent; and furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance, 3.1 percent, also contributed to the July inflation. ■