Manila, Jan 5 (IANS): Year-on-year inflation in the Philippines accelerated to 8.1 per cent in December 2022 from 8 per cent the previous month, the highest since November 2008, authorities said on Thursday.

In a news conference, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) head Dennis Mapa said the the country's average inflation rate for 2022 stood at 5.8 per cent, higher than the 2021 average at 3.9 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency.

Mapa attributed the faster December inflation rate to the growth rate in food and non-alcoholic beverages at 10.2 per cent, followed by restaurants and accommodation services, 7.0 per cent; the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, 7.0 per cent.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said faster food inflation is driven by higher prices of vegetables (32.4 per cent) and sugar (38.8 per cent) amid higher input costs and lower production.

"Weather disturbances in the previous months disrupted farmers' planting calendar," Balisacan said, adding the higher demand due to the holiday season also pushed inflation up for restaurant and accommodation services.

Meanwhile, the PSA said the core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy items in the headline inflation, rose to 6.9 per cent in December.