Vietnam sees Jan inflation rise 0.31%, retail sales up 1.6%

Vietnam's consumer price index, an indicator of inflation, increased 0.31% in January from December 2023, while the country's retail and service sector revenues rose 1.6%.

January’s CPI rise was driven by a 1.02% hike in medicine and healthcare service costs, 0.56% in housing and construction materials, 0.41% in transportation, and increases between 0.4% and 0.11% in other sectors, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said Monday.

Two sectors with negative indexes were telecommunications and postal services, down 0.05%, thanks to service providers’ promotional programs; and education, down 0.12%, as localities reduced tuition fees per the government’s Decree 97/2023.

As a result, the CPI went up 3.37% year-on-year while core inflation rose 0.21% over December 2023 and 2.72% over January 2023.

Meanwhile, retail and service sector revenues rose 1.6% month-on-month and 8.1% year-on-year to VND524.1 trillion ($21.35 billion) as the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday approached, the GSO noted.

The retail sector accounted for the biggest portion at VND407.5 trillion ($16.6 billion), up 3.5% month-on-month; followed by accommodation and restaurant with VND58.9 trillion ($2.4 billion), up 1.9%; tourism with VND4.4 trillion ($179.2 million), down 9.1%; and other services with VND53.3 trillion ($2.17 billion), down 10.6%.