Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.16% in May compared to April, mainly due to higher costs for rental housing, home maintenance materials, electricity and dining out, the National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Finance reported on June 6.

Consumers shop at Winmart Vo Thi Sau in Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi. Photo: VNA

The May CPI was up 1.53% compared to December 2024, and rose 3.24% year-on-year.

For the first five months of 2025, the index increased by 3.21% from the same period last year, while core inflation went up 3.1%.

Food and catering services rose by 3.83% year-on-year during the five-month period, with pork prices surging by 13.53% due to tight supply and high demand during holidays.

Housing and utility-related prices increased 5.43%, pushing the CPI up by 1.02 percentage points. Rental prices climbed 6.84%, electricity costs up 4.93%, and home maintenance materials up 2.71%.

Healthcare services and pharmaceuticals saw a sharp 14.07% rise, largely driven by an updated pricing circular from the Ministry of Health. Household equipment and appliances witnessed a price hike of 1.58%.

Meanwhile, transport costs dropped by 3.97%, with fuel prices down 13.39%. Postal and telecommunications services also fell slightly by 0.49%, mainly due to lower prices of older-generation mobile phones.

Gold prices soared in line with global trends. Domestically, gold prices in May surged 10.47% month-on-month and nearly 45.95% year-on-year. Over the five months, domestic gold prices surged 35.37%.

The US dollar index fell 0.82% globally as markets expected the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. However, in Vietnam, rising demand for import-export payments pushed the May index up by 0.68% month-on-month, 2.69% year-on-year, and 2.59% compared to December 2024. On average, the US dollar index increased by 3.35% in the first five months.

The core inflation in May rose 0.33% month-on-month and 3.33% year-on-year, said the National Statistics Office.