CPI in November increased by 3.46% due to rising prices of rice and some essential services.

Some localities increased medical service prices according to Circular No. 22/2023/TT-BYT, increased tuition fees according to Decree No. 81/2021/ND-CP and domestic rice prices continued to increase following export rice prices, which were the main reasons for the consumer price index (CPI) in November to increase by 0.25% compared to October.

This is the information pointed out by Ms. Nguyen Thu Oanh, Director of the Price Statistics Department (General Statistics Office). Thus, the CPI in November increased by 3.46% compared to December 2022 and increased by 3.45% compared to the same period last year.

Accordingly, on average in the first 11 months of 2023, CPI increased by 3.22% over the same period last year and core inflation increased by 4.27%.

According to the General Statistics Office's report on the socio-economic situation this month, compared to the previous month, the CPI in urban areas increased by 0.19% while in rural areas it increased by 0.3%.

Regarding the basket of main goods and services, 8/11 groups of goods recorded price increases compared to the previous month, 2 groups of goods decreased in price and only the group of household appliances and equipment remained unchanged.

Specifically, the price index of food and catering services in November increased by 0.1% compared to the previous month, affecting the overall CPI by 0.03 percentage points, of which food increased by 2.31%, affecting the increase by 0.08 percentage points. Food decreased by 0.32%, affecting the decrease by 0.07 percentage points and eating out increased by 0.2%, affecting the increase by 0.02 percentage points.

In the food group, the price index of rice group increased by 3.16% (regular rice increased by 3.45%; delicious rice increased by 2.45% and sticky rice increased by 1.32%).

Ms. Oanh shared that domestic rice prices increased following export prices due to strong import demand in many countries, as global rice supply decreased due to the increasingly profound impact of climate change.

In addition, monthly food prices decreased by 0.32% compared to October, mainly due to a 1.57% decrease in pork prices, affecting the overall CPI by 0.05 percentage points.

“Pork prices are falling due to the increasing trend of African swine fever in many localities, causing farmers to sell off to escape the epidemic while consumer demand is not high,” said Ms. Oanh.

In the 11-month period, the report said that the CPI in January increased the most at 4.89%, then gradually decreased to only 2% in June and 3.45% in November. On average, the CPI increased by 3.22% and core inflation increased by 4.27% compared to the same period in 2022, higher than the average CPI increase (up 3.22%).

Ms. Oanh emphasized that the main reason was that the average domestic gasoline price in 11 months decreased by 12.12% compared to the same period last year, and the gas price decreased by 7.5%, which was a factor in restraining the CPI growth rate but was included in the group of goods excluded from the list of basic inflation calculations.