Consumer price index in the first quarter of 2024 increased by 3.77%

Figures released by the General Statistics Office on the morning of March 29 showed that the consumer price index (CPI) in March 2024 decreased by 0.23% compared to the previous month, increased by 1.12% compared to December 2023 and increased by 3.97% compared to the same period in 2023. In the first quarter of 2024, the CPI increased by 3.77% compared to the same period in 2023, and core inflation increased by 2.81%.

Of the 11 main consumer goods and services groups, 7 groups decreased in price and 4 groups increased in price. Of which, the price index of the housing and construction materials group in March 2024 increased the highest, up 0.29% compared to the previous month, thereby increasing the overall CPI by 0.05 percentage points.

The food price index in March 2024 decreased the most, down 1.19% compared to the previous month, due to reduced consumer demand after Tet while the supply of goods was abundant.

According to the assessment of the General Statistics Office, the factors that increased the CPI in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period last year were: Domestic rice prices increased following export rice prices and demand for good sticky rice and rice during Tet, causing the rice price index in the first quarter of 2024 to increase by 21.71% compared to the same period in 2023. The price index of the domestic water group increased by 10.58%; The price index of the domestic electricity group increased by 9.38%; The price index of the education group in the first quarter increased by 9.02%; The price index of the medicine and medical services group increased by 6.51%; The price index of the housing and construction materials group increased by 5.4%; The price index of the culture, entertainment and tourism group increased by 1.35%.

Factors that reduce CPI in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023 are: The price index of the postal and telecommunications group in the first quarter of 2024 decreased by 1.46% compared to the same period in 2023 due to the price reduction of old generation phones when businesses applied discount programs to stimulate demand for smartphone models that have been on the market for a while.

In the first quarter of 2024, the average core inflation increased by 2.81% compared to the same period in 2023, lower than the average CPI (up 3.77%) mainly due to the prices of food, gasoline, medical services and education services which are factors affecting the increase in CPI but are in the group of goods excluded from the list of core inflation calculations.

The General Statistics Office assessed that the socio -economic situation in the first three months of 2023 of our country took place in the context of the world economy continuing to have many complex and unstable fluctuations. Global inflation, although cooling down, remains high; the recovery is slow and consumer demand of major trading partners is declining. The instability of some banks in the US and Europe affects people's confidence in the banking system around the world while central banks continue to raise interest rates and use tighter monetary policies. World energy prices are rising; the Russia-Ukraine war is prolonged... International organizations have given different assessments of world economic growth in 2023 but agree on forecasting a growth rate lower than in 2022 by 0.5 to 1.2 percentage points./.

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