Specifically, the General Statistics Office pointed out that the increase in food prices, electricity and water prices due to prolonged hot weather were the main reasons for the consumer price index (CPI) in May 2023 to increase by 0.01% compared to the previous month.

Compared to December 2022, CPI in May 2023 increased by 0.4% and compared to the same period last year increased by 2.43%.

On average, in the first 5 months of 2023, CPI increased by 3.55% over the same period last year; core inflation increased by 4.83%.

Compared to the previous month, CPI in May 2023, urban areas increased by 0.02%; rural areas remained unchanged). Of the 11 main consumer goods and services groups, 8 groups increased in price compared to the previous month and 3 groups decreased in price.

On average, in the first 5 months of 2023, CPI increased by 3.55% over the same period last year. Illustration photo: vtv.vn

The General Statistics Office also pointed out that the consumer price index from the beginning of the year to now compared to the same period last year has tended to decrease gradually; in which, the CPI in January 2023 increased the highest with 4.89%; February 2023 increased by 4.31%; March 2023 increased by 3.35%, April 2023 increased by 2.81% and by May 2023 the increase was 2.43%.

The main reason is that domestic gasoline prices have decreased following world prices, causing the price index of the transportation group to continuously decrease compared to the same period last year, from a decrease of 0.18% in February 2023 to a sharp decrease of 8.94% in May 2023. On average, in the first 5 months of 2023, the CPI increased by 3.55% compared to the same period in 2022.

Accordingly, the factors that increased the CPI in the first 5 months of 2023 include: The average price index of theeducation group in the first 5 months of 2023 increased by 8.39% over the same period last year because some localities increased tuition fees again from September 2022 after exempting or reducing tuition fees in the 2021-2022 school year to share difficulties with people during the pandemic, causing the CPI to increase by 0.52 percentage points.

The housing and construction materials group increased by 6.62% over the same period last year, causing the CPI to increase by 1.25 percentage points, due to the increase in prices of cement, iron, steel, and sand following the increase in input materials and housing rental prices.

The price index of the culture, entertainment and tourism group increased by 4.03% due to the Covid-19 epidemic being controlled, people's entertainment and tourism needs increased, causing the CPI to increase by 0.18 percentage points.

Food prices increased by 3.8%, mainly due to increased consumer demand during holidays and Tet, causing the CPI to increase by 0.81 percentage points. Household electricity prices increased by 2.59% due to increased electricity demand, causing the CPI to increase by 0.09 percentage points. Domestic rice prices increased by 2.37% following the export price of rice, causing the CPI to increase by 0.06 percentage points.

In addition to the factors that cause CPI to increase, there are also factors that reduce CPI in the first 5 months of 2023 including: Gasoline prices; domestic gas prices; price index of postal and telecommunications groups...  

The General Statistics Office pointed out that core inflation in May 2023 increased by 0.27% compared to the previous month, up 4.54% compared to the same period last year. On average, in the first 5 months of 2023, core inflation increased by 4.83% compared to the same period in 2022, higher than the average CPI (up 3.55%).

The main reason is that the average domestic gasoline price in the first 5 months of 2023 decreased by 15.27% compared to the same period last year, the gas price decreased by 8.51%, which is a factor that restrains the CPI growth rate but belongs to the group of goods excluded from the list of basic inflation calculations.

THANH HAI