Consumer price index, gold and USD price indexes, December 2022

The decrease in domestic petrol and oil prices in line with world fuel prices was the main reason for the consumer price index (CPI) in December 2022 decreased by 0.01% compared to the previous month and increased by 4.55% compared to December 2021. The average CPI in the fourth quarter of 2022 increased by 4.41% over the same period last year. For the whole year of 2022, CPI increased by 3.15% compared to 2021, reaching the target set by the National Assembly.

Consumer price index (CPI) in December 2022 decreased by 0.01% compared to the previous month, of which: 2 groups of goods and services had a decrease in the price index and 9 groups with an increase in the price index.

(1) Two groups of goods and services with declining price indexes include:

– The transportation group had the largest decrease with 2.78% (making the overall CPI decrease by 0.27 percentage points), due to the influence of the adjustments to reduce domestic gasoline prices according to world fuel prices on December 1st, 2022, December 12th, 2022 and December 21st, 2022 made gasoline prices decrease by 7.29%; diesel oil decreased by 10.64%. Besides, the spare parts price index increased by 0.22%; other services for private means of transport and public transport services both increased by 0.08%.

– Post and telecommunications groups decreased by 0.04%.

(2) Nine groups of goods and services have increased price indexes including:

– Housing and construction materials group increased by 0.66% mainly due to a 4.08% increase in gas price because, from December 1st, 2022, the domestic gas price was adjusted to increase by 14,000 VND/12 kg bottle after the world gas price increased by 40 USD/ton (from 610 USD/ton to 650 USD/ton); the price of water for a living increased by 0.82% due to an increase in water prices in some localities; rental housing prices increased by 0.77%; the price of housing maintenance materials increased by 0.35% (making the general CPI increase by 0.01 percentage points) due to a slight increase in the price of stone, sand, brick, and cement; housing repair service prices increased by 0.57% due to an increase in the demand for home repair and maintenance at the end of the year. In the opposite direction, kerosene prices decreased by 7.4% due to the impact of price adjustments on December 1st, 2022, December 12th, 2022, and December 21st, 2022; water and electricity for a living decreased by 0.95% due to the cool weather.

– Beverage and cigarette group increased by 0.45%, due to the increased consumption of people on Christmas and New Year’s Eve in 2023 as well as the preparation of goods for the upcoming Lunar New Year.

– Garment, hats, and footwear group increased by 0.41% because many stores and supermarkets ended their discount promotions in the month, along with the demand for clothes for Christmas and New Year’s Eve, so the stores increase the sales price.

– The education group increased by 0.32% (making the general CPI increase by 0.02 percentage points), of which educational services increased by 0.35% because some non-public educational institutions adjusted the increase in tuition fees in line with the increase in tuition fees compliance with regulations. . Besides, due to the increased demand for books and school supplies and transportation costs, the price of paper products increased by 0.32% compared to the previous month; textbook prices increased by 0.06%; the price of writing pens of all kinds increased by 0.17%; stationery and other school supplies increased by 0.12%.

– Household appliances increased by 0.22%.

– Food and catering services increased by 0.15%, of which: Food increased by 0.48% due to the stable export price of rice at a high level along with increased consumer demand at the end of the year, causing rice prices to increase the light; foodstuff increased by 0.05%; eating outside the family increased by 0.26%.

– The group of culture, entertainment, and tourism increased by 0.09%.

– Medicines and medical services increased by 0.08%.

– Other goods and services increased by 0.23%, focusing on the price of the jewelry group, which increased by 0.36% according to the price of gold; hair cutting and shampooing services increased by 0.52%. During the wedding season, the price of wedding supplies and services increased by 0.35%; The demand for worship items at the end of the year increased, so the prices of these items increased by 0.28%.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, CPI increased by 0.67% compared to the previous quarter and 4.41% over the same period in 2021. Of which: Education increased by 11.13% over the same period last year; housing and construction materials increased by 6.17%; food and catering services increased by 5.19%; culture, entertainment, and tourism group by 4.95%; beverage and cigarettes by 3.64%; household appliances by 2.63%; garments, hats, and shoes by 2.31%; transport group increased by 0.86%; medicine and medical service group by 0.55%; other goods and services increased by 3.12%. Particularly, postal services and telecommunications decreased by 0.21% compared to the same period last year.

On average, in 2022, CPI increased by 3.15% compared to the average in 2021, reaching the target set by the National Assembly. The average CPI in 2022 increases due to a number of main reasons:

(i) Domestic gasoline prices increased by 28.01% over the previous year (making the overall CPI increase by 1.01 percentage points), gas prices by 11.49% (making the overall CPI increase by 0.17 percentage points);

(ii) Rice price increased by 1.22% compared to 2021 (making the overall CPI increase by 0.03 percentage points) due to the increase in domestic rice prices in line with the export price of rice, increased demand for sticky rice and delicious rice during the holidays, Tet;

(iii) Prices of foodstuff items increased by 1.62% compared to 2021 (making CPI increase by 0.35 percentage points);

(iv) Prices of housing and construction materials increased by 3.11% over the previous year due to the increase in prices of cement, iron, steel, and sand in line with the price of input materials (making the overall CPI increase by 0.59 percentage points);

(v) The price of educational services increased by 1.44% compared to 2021 (making the general CPI increase by 0.08 percentage points) because some provinces and centrally-run cities increased tuition fees for the 2022-2023 school year;

(vi) The impact of the increase in gasoline prices, whereby airfares in 2022 increased by 27.58% compared to the previous year; train fares increased by 10.96%; passenger car fares increased by 12.15%; package tour prices increased by 8.27%.

Besides, there are a number of factors contributing to restraining the CPI growth rate in 2022:

(i) Pork price decreased by 10.68% over the previous year (making the overall CPI decrease by 0.36 percentage points) due to the control of African swine fever and the guaranteed supply of pigs to meet the people’s consumption demand;

(ii) Rented housing prices decreased by 1.83% compared to the previous year (making the general CPI decrease by 0.01 percentage points), prices decreased mainly in the first months of the year due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic;

(iii) Post and telecommunications prices decreased by 0.37% year-on-year due to lower mobile phone prices;

(iv) In order to proactively respond to challenges in the face of increasing inflationary pressure, the Government has drastically directed ministries, sectors, and localities to synchronously implement solutions to stabilize prices and limit negative impacts on inflation. negative impact on socio-economic development and thereby help curb inflation in 2022.

Core inflation in December 2022 increased by 0.33% compared to the previous month, up by 4.99% over the same period last year, higher than the average CPI increase (up 4.55%) mainly due to the fact that gasoline price is the factor restraining the CPI growth rate in December this year, which belongs to the group of goods that are excluded from the core inflation calculation list. On average, core inflation in 2022 increased by 2.59% compared to 2021, lower than the average overallCPI (up 3.15%), this reflects consumer price fluctuations mainly due to food prices, gasoline, oil, and gas increases.