Inflation in the first quarter of 2025 increased by 3.01%

According to the report of the General Statistics Office ( Ministry of Finance ) announced on the morning of April 6, the CPI in the first quarter of 2025 increased compared to the same period last year, of which 8 indexes increased and 3 indexes decreased.

Specifically, the price index of the group of drugs and medical services increased the most, up 14.4% (causing the general CPI to increase by 0.78 percentage points) due to the adjustment of medical service prices according to Circular No. 21 dated October 17, 2024 of the Ministry of Health .

Next, the price index of the housing, electricity, water, fuel and construction materials group increased by 5.11% (making the general CPI increase by 0.96 percentage points) due to the increase in prices of cement, iron, steel and sand following the increase in input materials and rental prices.

Of which, the price index of household electricity group increased by 5.11% (contributing to the general CPI increase by 0.17 percentage points) due to increased electricity demand and Vietnam Electricity Group adjusting the average retail electricity price from October 11, 2024.

The price index of the group of drugs and medical services increased the most, up 14.4% in the first quarter of 2025. (Illustration photo: Government Newspaper)

The price index of food and catering services increased by 3.78% (contributing to the general CPI increase by 1.27 percentage points), of which the price index of pork increased by 12.49% (impacting the general CPI increase by 0.42 percentage points) due to supply shortage while consumer demand increased during holidays and Tet; the rice price index increased by 0.97%; the fresh poultry price index increased by 1.06%.

The price index of the culture, entertainment and tourism group increased by 2.16% (contributing to the general CPI increase by 0.1 percentage point).

In addition, a number of factors contributed to curbing the CPI growth rate in the first quarter of 2025, specifically, the transport group index decreased by 2.4% (contributing to a decrease in the overall CPI of 0.23 percentage points), of which gasoline prices decreased by 9.73%; passenger transport services by rail decreased by 6.06%.

The education group price index decreased by 0.61% (contributing to a 0.04 percentage point decrease in the general CPI) because in the 2024-2025 school year, a number of provinces and centrally-run cities exempted or reduced tuition fees for subjects according to regulations.

The price index of the postal and telecommunications group decreased by 0.59% (contributing to a 0.02 percentage point decrease in the overall CPI) due to the decrease in the price of old-generation phones when businesses applied discount programs to stimulate demand for smartphones that have been on the market for a while.

On average, in the first quarter of 2025, core inflation increased by 3.01% over the same period last year, lower than the average CPI (up 3.22%), mainly due to the prices of food, foodstuffs, electricity, and medical services, which are factors affecting the CPI increase but are excluded from the list of goods for calculating core inflation.

Regarding the export turnover of goods in March 2025, the General Statistics Office said that the turnover reached 38.51 billion USD, up 23.8% over the previous month and up 14.5% over the same period last year.

In the first quarter of 2025, the total export turnover of goods reached 102.84 billion USD, up 10.6% over the same period last year. Of which, the domestic economic sector reached 29.02 billion USD, up 15.0%, accounting for 28.2% of the total export turnover; the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) reached 73.82 billion USD, up 9.0%, accounting for 71.8%.

Regarding goods imports in March 2025, it reached 36.88 billion USD, up 12.9% over the previous month and up 19% over the same period last year.

In the first quarter of 2025, the total import turnover of goods reached 99.68 billion USD, up 17% over the same period last year, of which the domestic economic sector reached 36.78 billion USD, up 19.3%; the foreign-invested sector reached 62.9 billion USD, up 15.8%.

The trade balance of goods in March had a trade surplus of 1.63 billion USD. In the first quarter of 2025, the trade balance of goods had a trade surplus of 3.16 billion USD (the same period last year had a trade surplus of 7.7 billion USD). Of which, the domestic economic sector had a trade deficit of 7.76 billion USD; the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) had a trade surplus of 10.92 billion USD.

In the first quarter of 2025, service export turnover is estimated at 7.58 billion USD, up 21.7% over the same period last year; service import turnover is estimated at 9.22 billion USD (including transportation and insurance service fees of imported goods of 3.16 billion USD), up 18%. Service trade deficit in the first quarter of 2025 is 1.64 billion USD.

PHAM DUY

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/lam-phat-quy-i-2025-tang-3-01-ar936042.html