The purchasing power of the Philippine peso has fallen to its lowest level in eight years, with one peso now valued at just P0.073, National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Dennis Mapa announced on Tuesday, May 5, 2026.
In a press conference, Mapa explained that the purchasing power of the peso declines as inflation increases. Last month, the value of one peso had dropped to P0.75.
The purchasing power of the peso measures the amount of goods and services that can be bought with one peso relative to a base year. A decline in this metric indicates that consumers need to spend more to purchase the same basket of goods, effectively reducing their spending capacity.
The latest figure means that what one peso could buy in the base year can now only purchase about 7.3 centavos worth of goods and services, underscoring the impact of rising inflation on Filipino households.
This announcement comes on the heels of a sharp uptick in inflation, which climbed to 7.2 percent in April 2026, the highest level since March 2023. The surge has been largely driven by higher prices of food, transportation, and utilities, all of which are essential components of household spending.
