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The CPI for the first seven months of 2024 showed an increase of 4.12% year-on-year, with core inflation rising by 2.73%.
In July 2024, the CPI rose by 0.48% from the previous month, with 10 groups of goods and services experiencing price increases, while postal and telecommunication services remained stable.
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The 10 groups of goods and services that saw price increases include:
– Miscellaneous goods and services: Increased by 3.77%, mainly due to a 28.45% rise in health insurance premiums following an adjustment in the base salary from 1.8 million VND to 2.34 million VND per month. Additionally, prices for elderly care services, watch and jewelry repairs, body care products, and environmental sanitation services also increased, while jewelry prices decreased slightly in line with domestic gold prices, and personal electric care appliances saw a minor decline.
– Transportation: Increased by 1.45% (contributing 0.14 percentage points to the overall CPI increase), mainly driven by a 4.07% rise in diesel prices and a 3.55% increase in domestic gasoline prices due to multiple price adjustments during the month. Air passenger transport prices surged by 20.44%, followed by rail transport (4.4% increase), road transport (0.04% increase), and combined transport (0.01% increase) due to higher summer travel demand. Spare parts, tires, and inner tubes for cars and motorcycles also became more expensive, along with maintenance services and fees for renting cars and motorcycles. On the other hand, vehicle prices decreased slightly, with new car prices dropping by 0.25%, motorcycle prices by 0.16%, and used car prices by 0.03% as auto manufacturers and assemblers offered various promotions and incentives to encourage consumption.
– Housing, electricity, water, fuel, and construction materials: Increased by 0.5%, attributed to a 1.39% rise in electricity prices, a 0.22% increase in water prices, a 4.02% jump in kerosene prices due to multiple price adjustments, a 0.2% rise in rental prices, and a 0.08% increase in home maintenance material prices. However, gas prices saw a slight decrease of 0.01% as some retailers offered promotions to stimulate consumption.
– Food and catering services: Increased by 0.26% (contributing 0.09 percentage points to the overall CPI increase), with a 0.31% rise in food prices and a 0.25% increase in dining out expenses, while there was a minor decrease in the price of cereals.
– Culture, entertainment, and tourism: Increased by 0.14%, with package tour prices rising by 0.23% and hotels and guesthouses increasing by 0.43% due to higher demand during the summer break in July.
– Medicine and healthcare services: Increased by 0.13%, with inpatient treatment prices rising by 0.19% and outpatient treatment services by 0.08%. This was due to the continued implementation of new healthcare service prices in some localities, in accordance with Circular No. 22/2023/TT-BYT dated November 17, 2023, which unifies healthcare service prices between hospitals of the same level nationwide and provides guidance on price application and payment for healthcare services in certain cases.
– Beverages and tobacco: Increased by 0.11% as consumption rose during hot weather. Carbonated soft drink prices increased by 0.22%, fruit juices by 0.16%, bottled/canned energy drinks and beer by 0.08%, and liquor by a slight 0.02%. Tobacco prices also rose by 0.2%.
– Household equipment and appliances: Increased by 0.07% due to higher labor costs. Air conditioner repair services became 0.42% more expensive, followed by washing machine services (0.31% increase), repairs of equipment with engines (0.12% increase), washing machines (0.22% increase), furniture (0.17% increase), and domestic worker hiring fees (0.16% increase). On the other hand, some retailers offered promotions and discounts on various appliances, leading to price decreases for items such as electric mixers and blenders (1.28%), gas stoves (0.32%), rice cookers (0.24%), printers, projectors, and scanners (0.23%), mattresses (0.22%), water heaters (0.17%), and vacuum cleaners (0.15%).
– Clothing, hats, and footwear: Increased by 0.03% due to higher transportation and labor costs. Shoe repair services rose by 0.37%, followed by clothing alteration services (0.21% increase), fabric prices (0.19% increase), hats (0.16% increase), and footwear (0.07% increase).
– Education: Increased by 0.02%, with paper products rising by 0.4%, writing instruments by 0.15%, and textbooks by 0.05%.
Meanwhile, the group of postal and telecommunication services maintained stable prices as businesses and retailers continued to offer promotions and discounts. Smartphones and tablets became slightly more affordable, with prices dropping by 0.39% from the previous month, while phone repair services saw a 0.19% increase in prices.
Core inflation in July 2024 rose by 0.36% from the previous month and by 2.61% compared to the same period last year.
For the first seven months of 2024, core inflation increased by 2.73% year-on-year, lower than the overall CPI average increase of 4.12%. This was mainly due to the impact of rising prices for food, electricity, educational and medical services, and gasoline, which are excluded from the calculation of core inflation.
