HANOI: The consumer price index (CPI) edged down slightly in July on lower fuel and food prices, but inflationary pressures remains a concern for the rest of the year, the National Statistics Office (NSO) says.
According to NSO’s socio-economic report released on Monday, the CPI fell 0.12% in July, after rising continuously in previous months, due to lower petrol prices, abundant food supplies and cooling housing-related costs.
Of the 11 major groups of goods and services in the CPI basket, three recorded price declines, while eight saw increases during the month.
The transport group posted the sharpest decline, falling 2.02% and pulling overall CPI down by 0.2 percentage points, as domestic petrol prices dropped 4.35% and diesel prices fell 9.18% following global fuel price movements.
Prices of food and catering services decreased 0.07%, contributing to lowering overall CPI by 0.03 percentage points.
The NSO attributed the decline to abundant agricultural supplies, which helped food prices fall 0.5% and foodstuff prices drop 0.07%.
The housing, electricity, water, fuel and construction materials group dropped 0.07%, reducing CPI by 0.02 percentage points. Petrol prices fell 11.41% in line with global trends, while kerosene prices dropped 1.19%.
Price increases in other categories were mainly driven by higher public service costs and stronger tourism demand during the summer holiday season.
Prices of other goods and services recorded the largest increase by 1.96%, mainly due to a 7.9% rise in health insurance contributions following an adjustment to the new base salary. Culture, entertainment and tourism prices increased 0.52%.
Despite the monthly decline, CPI was still up 3.08% from December 2025 and 4.45% from July last year.
The average CPI in the first seven months rose 4.39% year-on-year, driven mainly by housing, food and transport costs, indicating that inflationary pressures remained elevated, the NSO said.
Housing, electricity, fuel and construction materials increased by 6.72% , contributing 1.53 percentage points to overall CPI growth in the period.
Furthermore, food and catering services prices rose 4.77% , contributing 1.71 percentage points, while transport prices increased 5.01%, adding 0.5 percentage points.
The NSO said CPI increased steadily from January to May before easing in June and July, with year-on-year inflation peaking at 5.6% in May.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile fresh food, energy, and state-managed price items, rose 0.33% in July from the previous month and 4.63 per cent year-on-year. — Viet Nam News/ANN
