CPI in July increased by 0.48% due to increased electricity consumption and social insurance contributions.

In the 0.48% increase in CPI in July 2024 compared to the previous month, there were 10 groups of goods and services with increased price indexes; only the post and telecommunications group had stable prices.

Specifically, some groups had notable increases such as the other goods and services group increased by 3.77% mainly due to the health insurance price increasing by 28.45% when the basic salary was adjusted from 1.8 million VND/month to 2.34 million VND/month.

Next, the transport group increased by 1.45% (making the overall CPI increase by 0.14 percentage points), mainly due to a 4.07% increase in diesel prices; domestic gasoline prices increased by 3.55% due to the impact of price adjustments during the month. Air passenger transport prices increased by 20.44%; rail transport increased by 4.4%; road passenger transport increased by 0.04%; combined passenger transport increased by 0.01% due to increased travel demand during the summer.

The housing, electricity, water, fuel and construction materials group increased by 0.5% mainly due to a 1.39% increase in household electricity prices; a 0.22% increase in household water prices; a 4.02% increase in kerosene prices due to the impact of price adjustments during the month; house rental prices increased by 0.2%; and prices of housing maintenance materials increased by 0.08%.

The culture, entertainment and tourism group increased by 0.14%, of which the price of package tourism services increased by 0.23%; guest houses and hotels increased by 0.43% because in July, students had summer vacation, so the travel demand of agencies, businesses and families increased.

The group of medicines and medical services increased by 0.13%, of which the price of inpatient examination and treatment increased by 0.19%; outpatient examination and treatment services increased by 0.08%. The reason is that in July 2024, some localities continued to apply new medical service prices according to Circular No. 22/2023/TT-BYT dated November 17, 2023 of the Ministry of Health regulating the unification of prices of medical examination and treatment services under health insurance between hospitals of the same rank nationwide and guiding the application of prices and payment of medical examination and treatment costs in some cases.

The postal and telecommunications group maintained stable prices as businesses and establishments continued to implement promotional programs to stimulate shopping. Of which, smart mobile phones and tablets decreased by 0.39% compared to the previous month; phone repair prices increased by 0.19%.

Core inflation in July 2024 increased by 0.36% compared to the previous month and by 2.61% compared to the same period last year. On average, in the first 7 months of 2024, CPI increased by 4.12% compared to the same period last year; core inflation increased by 2.73%, lower than the average CPI (up 4.12%), mainly due to the prices of food, foodstuffs, electricity, education services, medical services and gasoline, which are factors that increase CPI but are excluded from the list of core inflation calculations.