The Hanoi Statistics Office announced on February 5 that the capital city’s consumer price index (CPI) for January inched up 0.51% from the previous month, with 10 out of 11 groups experiencing price hikes.
Leading the pack was the culture, entertainment, and tourism group, which saw the sharpest monthly increase at 0.74%. Close behind was the transportation group, rising by 0.73%; housing, electricity, water, fuel, and construction materials group 0.72%; food and dining services 0.57%; beverages and tobacco 0.54%.
Smaller increases were recorded in apparel, headwear and footwear 0.34%; household appliances 0.31%; medicine and healthcare services 0.06%; and education 0.04%.
The postal and telecommunications services group was the sole exception, recording a modest decline of 0.07%.
Looking at the bigger picture, Hanoi's CPI climbed by 3.09% year-on-year, with the biggest annual jumps in medicine and healthcare services (19.91%); housing, electricity, water, fuel and construction materials (6.37%); food and dining services (3.27%); culture, entertainment and tourism (3.87%).
The gold price index in January edged up 0.97% month-on-month and 34.18% year-on-year. Similarly, the US dollar price index saw a 0.12% monthly increase and a 3.92% annual rise.
Total retail sales of goods and consumer services were estimated at 84.9 trillion VND (3.396 billion USD), marking an 8.6% monthly increase and a 26.4% annual surge, driven by strong consumption demand ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which fell in January, said the municipal Statistics Office./.
