Consumer price index (CPI) in January dropped by 0.17% in Hanoi and 0.48% in HCM City since December as a result of recent reductions in petrol, oil and gas prices, a statistics agency announced on January 22.
People shop at a supermarket in Hanoi.
In Hanoi, ripples from this price cut have also been felt in the transportation service, housing, electricity, water, and construction material costs, decreasing by 1.18% from last month.Meanwhile, the prices of restaurant services, beverages and tobacco, and entertainment and tourism services rose modestly by 0.38%, 0.21%, and 0.05% respectively.
The garment and food industries also saw sharp price increases due to changing weather conditions and recent price increases in poultry and aquatic products.
In HCM, prices were 0.76% higher in comparison with this time last year according to the municipal statistics agency.
Among 11 groups of goods used to calculate the consumer price index (CPI), a measure of inflation, four saw reductions in January, with transport costs plummeting 4.8% month-on-month.
Analysts said sharp cuts to petrol prices in recent months have helped bring down transport costs significantly.
Building materials and utility services also fell by 1.5% in the last month.
Telecommunications and household appliances recorded drops of 0.16% and 0.03% respectively.
Meanwhile other groups of commodities saw rises between 0.04% and 0.92%.
The price of gold in January remained largely unchanged with a slight fall of 0.02% while the price of the US dollar rose by 0.58%.
