According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO), the consumer price index (CPI) in December 2019 increased by 1.4% against that of November 2019; the average CPI in 2019 rose by 2.79% in comparison with that of 2018; and the average level for Quarter IV/2019 was up by 3.66% as compared to that of the same time last year. The CPI in 2019 was controlled at lower than the 4% target set out by the National Assembly, and was the lowest level for the recent three years.
The prices of ten out of eleven groups of commodities increased as compared to the previous month. The price index of the group of food and catering services increased by 3.42%; the group of beverage and cigarette went up by 0.25%; the group of footwear and hat increased by 0.33%; the group of housing and construction materials rose by 0.43%; the group of household appliances and goods was up by 0.14%; the group of medicine and healthcare and the group of education both increased by 0.03%; the group of traffic increased by 0.61%; the group of education rose by 0.01%; the group of culture, entertainment and tourism increased by 0.09%; the group of other commodities and services went up by 0.24%.
The price index of the group of postal services & telecommunication was down by 0.09%.
The core inflation increased by 2.01% in 2019 as compared to that of last year, and increased by 2.78% in December 2019 in comparison with that of the same time of 2018.
Not included in the commodities and services accounted for in the CPI, the domestic gold price index in December 2019 was down by 0.36% as compared to that of November 2019, and increased by 16.23% in comparison with that of December 2018, and by 7.55% in 2019 as compared to that of 2018; the USD in December 2019 depreciated by 0.19% against the VND as compared to its value in the previous month, down by 0.77% as compared to that of December 2018, and by 0.99% in 2019 in comparison with that of 2018.
Le Hang