The inflation rate in the Philippines dropped to 3.9 percent in January this year from 4.2 percent in last December, the National Statistics Office said in a report issued on Tuesday.

The figure was also lower than the 4.1 percent of inflation in the same period of last year, it said.

The NSO attributed the decrease to "continued deceleration in the annual increment of the heavily weighted food and non- alcoholic beverages index".

In January this year, the slower annual growth rates in the prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco; furnishing, household equipment, and routine house maintenance items; health; and fuel also contributed to the downtrend, NSO said.

The annual inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) went up to 3.5 percent in January from 3 percent in December, while the annual inflation in areas outside NCR followed the trend of the national level as it continued to move at a slower rate of 4 percent in January from 4.5 percent in December.