WALL PRICE growth increased to 3% in 2025 led by chemicals including animal and vegetable fats and oils, reported the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Wednesday, citing preliminary data.
The general price index (GWPI) is set to grow by 2.5% in 2024, PSA said.
PSA said growth in chemicals, including animal and vegetable fats and oils index, was 10.6% following a reading of 4% in 2024.
Chemicals, including animal and vegetable fats and oils index, make up 10.1% of the total basket of goods.
Some indices in 2025 posted slower growth, PSA said.
“The annual acceleration in wholesale prices brought about by the acceleration of the chemical and oil index may be attributed to continued disruptions in agriculture, increased demand for coconut oil, and higher fertilizer prices,” said Marco Antonio C. Agonia, an economist at the University of Asia and the Pacific, in an email.
Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa, chief economist at Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., says the increase in palm and coconut oil prices is high.
“The bad weather and other irregularities in the goods have increased the price of both these goods, which led to a high increase in the price of supermarkets,” he said.
Global demand for coconut oil is set to rise with prices rising 63.3% to $2,480 per metric ton in 2025, according to the World Bank’s commodity price data, also known as the Pink Sheet, reported on Feb. 3.
Mr. Agonia added that global fertilizer prices also rose slightly throughout the year.
In December, headline growth slowed to 1.9% year-on-year from 2.7% in November. The December 2024 reading was 2.7%.
Month-on-month, chemicals including animal and vegetable fats and oils rose 5.1% in December, down from 9% in November, PSA said.
“The global commodity price chain is likely to change from the volatility seen throughout the year, while negative readings for Q4 and FY-2025 GDP have dampened local demand,” said Mr. Agony.
PSA reported on Jan. 29 that the gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 3% in 4th a quarter. It is down from 5.3% read last year. The result for the third quarter of 2025 was revised to 3.9%.
In 2025, the economy expanded by 4.4%, much weaker than the 5.7% growth projected in 2024.
This was the weakest increase in five years, after the pandemic caused GDP to fall by 9.5% in 2020. Excluding the effects of the pandemic, readings for the fourth quarter were the weakest since the 3.9% posted in 2011.
In December, GWPI growth in Luzon was 1.8%, compared to 2.6% last month. The December 2024 reading was 2.8%. In 2025, Luzon GWPI growth was 3.1%, from 2.4% posted last year.
GWPI growth in the Visayas in December was unchanged at 3.3%. December’s reading was the strongest since the 5% posted in June 2024 and compared to the 1.7% reading in December 2024.
Visayas’ gross domestic product growth grew by 2.3% in 2025, the weakest reading since the 0.4% in 2021.
Mindanao GWPI growth in December was 2.7%, down from the 2.9% reading in November but up from the 1.1% posted in December 2024.
Mindanao’s wholesale price growth in 2025 reached 1.7%, unchanged from last year and the weakest since it was recorded at 1.6% in 2020.
In January, Mr. Agonia said price movements are “broadly stable…. there is a slight acceleration in wholesale price growth… as global and domestic value chains normalize activity and firms look to recover from last year’s weak economic activity.”
Mr. Mapa said prices could rise in the coming months if economic activity strengthens after the end of 2025 slowdown. – Heather Caitlin P. Mañago
