CPI increases by 0.01% in May

The May CPI increased by 0.4% compared to December 2022 and 2.43% from the same period last year.

The average CPI of the first five months of this year rose by 3.55% over the same period last year.

The year-on-year rise in CPI from the beginning of this year tends to slow down gradually with 4.89% in January, 4.31% in February, 3.35% in March, 2.81% in April 2.43% in May, the GSO pointed out.

Factors that pushed the CPI up in the first five months of this year include the increased prices of education, housing and construction materials, culture/entertainment, and tourism because of increasing demand after the COVID-19 pandemic was put under control.

In addition, prices of food items hiked by 3.8%, mainly due to higher consumer demand during holidays and festivals.

Meanwhile, factors that pulled the CPI down during the period included the falling prices of fuels and postal and telecommunications products.

According to the General Statistics Office, core inflation in May increased by 0.27% over the previous month and by 4.54% over the same period last year. The average core inflation of the first five months of this year rose by 4.83% year-on-year, higher than the CPI growth rate (3.55%).