Philippines Wholesale Price Growth Accelerates in July Driven by Food

THE PRICE GROWTH of wholesale goods accelerated to 2.4% in July, up from 2.3% posted in June, driven by higher food prices, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said. Citing preliminary data, the General Wholesale Price Index (GWPI) accelerated from the 2.3% posted in June. The July reading was lower than the 3.1% reported in July 2025. The July indicator was the highest since the 2.5% posted in May. “The uptrend in the annual growth rate of the GWPI was mainly caused by the faster annual increase in the index of food at 4.9% in July 2026 from 4.6% in the previous month,” the PSA said in a statement. The food subindex accounts for more than a third of the GWPI. Also posting accelerated growth were GWPI components beverages and tobacco (3.2% in July from 2.6% in June), manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials (0.5% from 0.3%), machinery and transport equipment (1.4% from 1.1%), and miscellaneous manufactured articles (1.8% from 1.4%). The decline in the subindex for crude materials, inedible except fuels during the month eased to 32% from the previous 35.6% contraction. Meanwhile, growth in the wholesale price subindex for mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials retreated to 27.4% during the month, from 29.3% previously. Price growth for chemicals including animal and vegetable oils and fats came in at a 4.5% decline, against 4.4% in June. The GWPI for Luzon accelerated to 2.5% from 2.2% a month earlier, though it was much lower than the 3.1% posted in July 2025. It was the strongest reading since the 3% in April. The Visayas GWPI slowed to 3.4% from 3.8% a month earlier and the 3.1% posted a year earlier. Bulk prices growth in Mindanao slowed to 1.4% during the month from 1.9% in June and 1.6% a year earlier. — Pierce Oel A. Montalvo