The country’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) in August increased by 0.28 percent over the previous month, and 2.26 percent over the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office.
The GSO said that in the first eight months this year, the index saw a 2.57 percent year-on-year increase on average, the lowest rise seen in the last three years.
Among the 11 main commodity groups, eight experienced price rises in August, including medicine and health service with the highest rise of 2.81 percent.
Education prices rose 0.57 percent as some localities increased tuition fees for the new academic year.
Housing and construction material prices went up 0.33 percent mostly because of a 0.43 percent hike in rental costs. Restaurants and catering services increased 0.24 percent with food soaring 0.31 percent and foodstuffs 0.29 percent.
Garment and footwear prices rose 0.09 percent, household appliances 0.05 percent, beverages and cigarettes 0.03 percent, and other goods and services 0.14 percent.
Three groups saw decreases – transportation; culture, entertainment and tourism; and post and telecommunications – with decreases of 0.46 percent, 0.06 percent and 0.05 percent respectively.
The GSO said the health and education services price hike contributed to the CPI increase last month.
The spread of African swine fever also affected the index. As of August 20, 4.4 million pigs had been culled due to the disease, causing pork prices to rise 0.89 percent against the previous month.
Persistent scorching heat in some localities caused electricity and water demand to spike, resulting in 0.33 percent and 0.28 percent increases in their CPIs.
Core inflation in August rose 0.13 percent over the previous month and 1.95 percent over the same period last year. During the first eight months of 2019, it posted a 1.9 percent year-on-year increase.-VNA
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