With classes set to begin next month, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has released its latest price guide to help consumers make informed choices when purchasing school supplies.

For this year’s price guide, the DTI stated that it includes a broader selection of notebooks, pad paper, pencils, ballpoint pens, crayons, and other writing essentials.

This expansion helps parents and students find products that fit their needs and budget, it said.

The DTI noted that 52 percent or 101 out of the 195 stock keeping units (SKUs) have maintained their prices from last year.

With SKUs across 12 products categories, 29 items or 13 percent of the SKUs saw reductions in prices ranging from ₱1 to ₱10.

Meanwhile, nine percent or 17 SKUs faced price increases.

The 2025 price guide introduced 48 new items, providing consumers with more options, brands, and variants.

“We know how challenging it can be for parents to prepare their children for school, so this price guide is our way of easing that burden—making sure students can return to the classroom equipped, confident, and ready to learn without putting too much strain on the family budget,” said DTI Secretary Cristina Roque.

“The DTI is committed to ensuring that Filipino families have access to reasonably priced school supplies,” she added.

In this year’s price guide, notebook are priced from ₱15 to ₱52, while pad paper ranges between ₱15 to ₱48.75.

Pencils are available from ₱11 to ₱24, while pens may cost within the range of ₱3 to ₱33.

For crayons, customers may purchase between ₱12 to ₱114, depending on box sizes.

Sharpeners and rulers are priced at ₱15 to ₱69 and ₱16 to ₱39, respectively.

Price of erasers, in various sizes, remain unchanged from ₱4.50 to ₱20.

The DTI is reminding consumers to check the product labels, such as the number of leaves in notebooks and pad papers.

“Consumers should be wary of school supplies without labels, especially those that do not indicate the manufacturer’s or importer’s name and address,” Roque said.