CPI in first quarter of 2017 highest in three years

The consumer price index (CPI) in the first quarter of 2017 rose by 4.96% year on year, higher than the respective figures of the previous three years (4.83% in 2014, 0.74% in 2015 and 1.25% in 2016), according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

CPI in first quarter of 2017 highest in three years

Accordingly, CPI in March increased 0.21% against February, 0.9% from December 2016 and 4.65% compared to the same period of last year.

Eight of the 11 groups of goods and services in the basket of consumer goods saw price increases, with the group of medicine and healthcare services posing the biggest monthly price hike, 7.51%, followed by education (up 0.75%); housing and building materials (up 0.5%); transport (up 0.39%); equipment and household devices (up 0.06%); culture, recreation and tourism (up 0.04%) and post and telecommunication (up 0.03%).

The remaining groups of goods and services saw their prices decline, including food and food services (down 0.87%); garment, hat and footwear (down 0.12%); and drinks and tobacco (down 0.2%).

The GSO attributed 2017 first quarter’s CPI rise to the upward adjustment of healthcare service prices and tuition fees; the surging demand for food before, during and after the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival; and the year-on-year 34.92% hike in petrol and oil prices (adding 1.454 percentage points to the common CPI increase).

Core inflation in the first quarter of 2017 rose 1.66% compared with the same period of 2016.

(Source: NDO)