Hanoi (VNA) – The consumer price index (CPI) in August stayed almost unchanged from the previous month as a result of mixed trends in goods and consumer service prices, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported on September 6.

In particular, it rose 0.02% in urban areas but fell 0.03% in rural regions. Among the 11 categories of main consumer goods and services, 10 witnessed slight price increases while transport saw a decrease from July.

However, the August CPI still increased 1.89% from last December and 3.45% year on year.

The gold price index went up 1.93% month on month, 20.4% from December, and 31.05% year on year. Meanwhile, the US dollar price index dropped by 0.64% from the previous month but grew 3.55% from December and 5.86% from the same period last year.

Last month’s core inflation climbed 0.24% month on month and 2.53% year on year, the GSO said.

During the first eight months, the CPI expanded 4.04% from the same period last year.

Contributors to this CPI growth included food and catering services, which recorded a year-on-year price hike of 4%, along with housing, electricity, water, fuel, and construction materials 5.46%.

Meanwhile, factors dragging the CPI down during the period comprised postal and telecommunications services, whose prices declined 1.28%, statistics show.

Between January and August, the gold price index rose 25.54% while the US dollar price index up 5.85% from a year earlier.

The eight-month core inflation went up 2.71% year on year, still lower than the CPI growth of 4.04%, due to higher prices of food, electricity, educational and health services, and fuel, which are excluded when core inflation is calculated, the GSO said.

It pointed out that contrary to 2023, the CPI was on an upward trend during the first five months of 2024, from a year-on-year rise of 3.37% in January to 4.4ꦰ4% in May. The growth followed a downward trend in the following months, slowing to 4.34% in June, 4.36% in July, and 3.45% in August./.