HCMC – Vietnam’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) from January to August inched up 1.79% year-on-year, a modest increase for the same period since 2016, according to the General Statistics Office.
In the eight-month period, the core inflation, which excludes the prices of fresh food, energy and State-controlled healthcare and education services, edged up 0.9% versus the year-ago period.
In August alone, the CPI rose 0.25% month-on-month and 2.82% year-on-year, mainly due to the higher prices of food and foodstuff in cities and provinces practicing social distancing. The CPI in urban areas rose 0.34% this month, higher than the 0.14% increase in rural areas.
Among the 11 groups of consumer goods and services in the basket of items used to calculate the CPI, four groups marked an increase in prices, four registered a decline, while the prices of other goods and services were stable.
Food and catering services recorded the highest increase of 0.74%, while the prices of beverages and tobacco, education services, and medicines and medical services posted a growth of 0.22%, 0.04% and 0.02%, respectively.
In contrast, the prices of transport services and post and telecommunication services fell 0.06% and 0.05%, respectively.
Cultural, entertainment and tourism services as well as the apparel, footwear and hat group saw their prices edge down 0.03% each.
