Wholesale price growth accelerates in November

WHOLESALE PRICE growth hit two-month high of 2.7% as food costs inched up in November, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday.

Citing preliminary data, the PSA said the general wholesale price index (GWPI) reading of 2.7% picked up from the 2.6% posted in October and the year-earlier level of 2.3%.

The November reading was the highest since the 2.9% reported in September.

The national GWPI averaged 3.1% during the first 11 months, against the year-earlier 2.5% reading.

“The uptrend in the annual growth rate of the GWPI was mainly caused by the faster annual increase in the index of food at 2.2% in November 2025 from 1.9% in the previous month,” the PSA said in a report.

The food subindex accounted for more than a third of the GWPI.

Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said that damage caused by the typhoons Tino and Uwan in November likely led to a pickup in prices following supply-chain disruptions in hard-hit areas.

The combined damage and losses incurred for typhoons Tino and Uwan amounted to P5.16 billion, the Department of Agriculture Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center said in December.

“However, this is offset by lower global commodity prices in recent months to their lowest in three to five years, with global crude oil prices lingering near five-month lows recently,” Mr. Ricafort said in an e-mail. — Pierce Oel A. Montalvo