Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 3.26% year-on-year in the first seven months of 2025, while core inflation rose 3.18%, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported on August 6.

Rising costs for housing repairs, food, and dining out were the main contributors to a 0.11% month-on-month increase in CPI in July. The index rose 2.13% from December 2024 and 3.19% year-on-year.

CPI rose 0.03% in urban areas and 0.2% in rural areas. Among the 11 main commodity groups, prices increased in nine categories and declined in two.

Key drivers of July CPI included healthcare and medicine prices, which surged 12.81% year-on-year, contributing 0.69 percentage points to CPI, following an increase in medical service prices under Circular No. 21/2024/TT-BYT.

The housing, utilities, and building materials group rose 7.07%, adding 1.33 percentage points, due to higher rents and repair costs. Price hike was also seen in housing maintenance materials (8.53%), rent (7.17%), electricity (8.94%), and water supply (4.89%). Meanwhile, education climbed 3.05%, contributing 0.19 percentage points to the overall index, while food and catering services increased 2.92%, adding 0.98 points.

Culture, entertainment, and tourism grew 1.76%, driven by summer demand. Alcohol and tobacco rose 2.24%, led by tobacco (2.96%) and liquor (2.63%).

Household goods and services were up 1.71%, with notable changes in appliance repairs (3.49%), plastic and rubber goods (2.47%), furniture (2.45%), domestic services (4.51%). Washing machines, refrigerators, and cookware saw slight declines.

In contrary, transport cost fell 3.74%, lowering CPI by 0.36 percentage points, due to global fuel price drops. Petrol and oil dropped 12.8%, and new cars dipped 0.43%.

Postal and telecom prices declined 0.38%, cutting CPI by 0.01 percentage points, as prices of smartphones and accessories fell amid strong competition and tech advancements.

At the same time, global gold prices remained stable, averaging 3,369 USD/oz in July. Domestic gold prices, however, surged.

The USD price rose despite the global USD index decreased by 1% to 97.61, due to expectations of a looser Fed policy.

ও According to the NSO, core inflation in July increased 0.21% month-on-month and 3.3% year-on-year. The seven-month figure of 3.18% remained slightly lower than the overall CPI increase thanks to the exclusion of volatile sectors like food, energy, health care, and education./.