CPI in the first quarter of 2024 increased by 3.77%

Compared to the previous month, CPI in March 2024 decreased by 0.23% (urban areas decreased by 0.21%; rural areas decreased by 0.25%).

Of the 11 main consumer goods and services groups, 7 groups decreased in price and 4 groups increased in price.

Of which, the price index of housing and construction materials group in March 2024 increased the highest, up 0.29% compared to the previous month, thereby increasing the general CPI by 0.05 percentage points.

The food price index in March 2024 decreased the most, down 1.19% compared to the previous month, due to reduced consumer demand after Tet while the supply of goods was abundant.

Factors that increased the CPI in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period last year are: Domestic rice prices increased following export rice prices and high demand for glutinous rice and good rice during the Ong Cong, Ong Tao Festival and Lunar New Year, causing the rice price index in the first quarter of 2024 to increase by 21.71% compared to the same period last year, affecting the overall CPI to increase by 0.55 percentage points.

The price index of domestic water increased by 10.58% due to increased water demand. At the same time, some provinces and centrally-run cities increased water prices according to the decision of the People's Committee, causing the overall CPI to increase by 0.06 percentage points.

The price index of household electricity group increased by 9.38% due to increased electricity demand and from May 4, 2023 and November 9, 2023, EVN adjusted the average retail electricity price, contributing to the overall CPI increase by 0.31 percentage points.

The education group price index in the first quarter increased by 9.02% over the same period last year, because in the 2023-2024 school year, some provinces and centrally run cities increased tuition fees, causing the general CPI to increase by 0.56 percentage points.

The price index of the group of drugs and medical services increased by 6.51%, causing the general CPI to increase by 0.35 percentage points due to the adjustment of medical service prices according to Circular No. 22/2023/TTBYT of the Ministry of Health from November 17, 2023.

The price index of the housing and construction materials group increased by 5.4% due to the increase in cement and sand prices following the increase in input material prices and rental prices, causing the overall CPI to increase by 1.02 percentage points.

The price index of the culture, entertainment and tourism group increased by 1.35%, contributing to a 0.06 percentage point increase in the overall CPI.

Factors that reduced CPI in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period last year were: The price index of the postal and telecommunications group in the first quarter of 2024 decreased by 1.46% compared to the same period last year due to the price of old generation phones decreasing when businesses applied discount programs to stimulate demand for smartphone models that have been on the market for a while.

Core inflation in March 2024 increased by 0.03% compared to the previous month and increased by 2.76% compared to the same period last year. In the first quarter of 2024, the average core inflation increased by 2.81% compared to the same period last year, lower than the average CPI (up 3.77%) mainly due to the prices of food, gasoline, medical services and education services which are factors affecting the increase in CPI but are excluded from the list of core inflation calculations.