Vietnam June inflation up 4.34%, approaches annual target

Vietnam's consumer price index (CPI), an indicator of inflation, rose 0.17% from May to June this year, 1.4% from end-2023, and 4.34% from June 2023, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

On a year-on-year basis, the CPI grew 4.08% in the first half of 2024 and core inflation reached 2.75%. The National Assembly, the country’s highest legislative body, has set a 2024 inflation target of 4-4.5%.

From May to June, the biggest factors influencing the CPI were higher prices of pork and healthcare services.

Pork prices rose 3.78% as a result of the African swine fever at end-2023 and ongoing diseases in many areas, leading to a 1.07% increase in foodstuff prices. This increase drove up CPI by 0.23 percentage points, the GSO said.

The CPI of the culture, entertainment, and tourism sector rose 0.68% as the summer break prompted families to go on vacations, leading to higher prices.

The GSO said healthcare and medicine sector prices went up 0.6% after the Health Ministry’s Circular 22/2023 imposed new healthcare service charges.

Three sectors with lower month-on-month figures were education (-0.01%); apparel, hats and footwear (-0.11%) thanks to summer promotions; and transportation (-2.27%) thanks to lower fuel prices.

Overall, January-June CPI of 4.08% was influenced most by rice prices (as part of food and restaurant services) going up 20.98%, adding 0.44 percentage points of the overall index; house rent (housing, utility, construction materials) going up 4.95%, or 0.52 percentage points; higher electricity prices and consumption of 9.45%, or 0.31 percentage points.