The headline inflation rate in the Philippines slightly increased in February due to higher prices of food, transport, and utilities costs in the country.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority released on Tuesday showed that the headline inflation rate, or the increase in the price of goods and services in the country, rose slightly to 3.4 percent.

The latest figure exceeded the 2.8 percent headline inflation rate recorded in January but fell below the 8.6 percent reported in February 2023.

On the other hand, year-to-date inflation rate stood at 3.1 percent, which is still within the government’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent.

However, this is the first increase in inflation after a downtrend for four consecutive months.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy items in the consumer basket, eased to 3.6 percent from the previous month's 3.8 percent.

"The uptrend in the overall inflation in February 2024 was primarily influenced by the higher year-on-year increase in the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 4.6 percent during the month from 3.5 percent in the previous month," the PSA said.

PSA attributed more than half of the total inflation, or 52.1 percent, to food and alcoholic beverages. Food inflation increased to 4.8 percent from 3.3 percent in January, mainly due to a slower decline in price growth, reaching 11.0 percent for vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas, and pulses.

In a virtual briefing, PSA Chief and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said that rice continues to be a significant factor in inflation.

The PSA observed that rice inflation in the National Capital Region rose to 15.5 percent in February, up from 14.6 percent in January. Additionally, meat prices increased by 0.5 percent in February compared to a decline of 2 percent in January. However, fish, fruits, bread, and milk experienced slower price increases in the NCR last month.

At the national level, transport costs increased by 1.2 percent in February, contrasting with a 0.3 percent decline in January. Moreover, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel costs accelerated to 0.9 percent from 0.7 percent in January, contributing to the overall faster inflation.

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco also saw a slight uptick in inflation, reaching 8.6 percent in February 2024 compared to 8.4 percent in the previous month.