Will surging fuel prices push Filipinos deeper into credit card debt?

A pedestrian reads a sign at a petrol station in Tacloban City, Leyte province, central Philippines on Monday.

Photo: AFP Rising fuel costs linked to the Middle East conflict could push more Filipinos deeper into debt, analysts have warned, with one regional study describing the Philippines’ credit card burden reaching a “critical” risk level.

Although credit card ownership in the Philippines remains relatively low, data indicates that cardholders appear to be using them far more intensively as living costs outpace income growth.

Credit card receivables in the Philippines have been growing consistently at more than 20 per cent year on year, making credit cards one of the fastest-growing segments of consumer loans in the country, according to Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation.

Data from the Central Bank of the Philippines also showed credit card receivables in the country reached 1.1 trillion pesos (US$18.1 billion) as of September 2025, up 29 per cent from the previous year.

At the same time, persistently high prices since the start of the Russia–Ukraine war in February 2022 had eroded disposable incomes and raised the cost of living, Ricafort said. “As a result, some consumers have increasingly relied on credit cards to bridge any gaps in budgets, with payments somewhat hedged on future incomes or earnings,” Ricafort told This Week in Asia.

The surge in fuel and petroleum prices resulting from the attacks on Iran in late February added further pressure on household spending, Ricafort said. “With the risk of higher prices of other affected goods and services or second-round inflation effects, credit card use could again increase further to partly cope with higher prices and reduced disposable incomes … for both essential and non-essential spending by some consumers, as cost-cuts would be a response for some to reduce the need for borrowings to manage any budget gap,” he said.

The government has declared a national emergency, as oil shortages and persistently high crude oil prices “have become a significant macroeconomic headwind for the Philippines”, according to a recent report by Dutch financial think tank ING Group.

Credit card adoption in the Philippines remains low despite steady growth in recent years.

Some 18.5 million credit cards had been issued as of the fourth quarter of 2025, according to a survey conducted by the Credit Card Association of the Philippines (CCAP). “In terms of penetration, that i

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