The capital city of Hanoi had the highest living expense among Vietnam's 63 provinces and cities, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO) on March 29.

Food shopping at a local store in Hanoi. Photo: The Hanoi Times

Hanoi scored 100 on the Spatial Cost of Living Index 2022 (SCOLI 2022).

The Hanoi Statistics Office stated in late December 2022 that the capital city's Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell 0.15% month on month but increased by 2.83% year on year.

The figure raised Hanoi's CPI by 3.4% year on year in 2022, falling short of the city's 4% goal.

Hanoi was also one of the eight provinces and cities where living expenses remained unchanged from the previous year.

The capital city was followed by Quang Ninh Province, HCM City, Danang, the central coastal metropolis, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.

The four municipalities received 99.89, 96.20, 95.89, and 95.86 points, respectively.

Education and training, healthcare and medicine, beverage and tobacco, utilities and construction materials, and eatery are six of the 11 main goods and services in Quang Ninh Province that are more expensive than in other provinces and cities.

"Quang Ninh is Vietnam's second most expensive locality due to the province's abundance of industrial and service activities," the General Statistics Office stated in its report.

"The province is one of the most dynamic economic hubs in the country, serving as the gateway to the Northern Economic Zone," according to the agency.

According to the GSO, Quang Ninh has made substantial socioeconomic progress in recent years, making its products and services more expensive than those in other parts of the country.

On the other hand, the five provinces of Quang Tri, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, and Nam Dinh have the lowest scores, varying from 86.83 to 87.82.

In terms of region, the Red River Delta region had the highest SCOLI score, while the Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta had the lowest. The outcomes remained the same as in 2021.

According to the GSO, Vietnam's socioeconomic growth has been hampered by global economic instabilities such as geopolitical tensions, raw material price increases, and declining market consumption.

Prices of goods and services remained nearly unaltered in 2022 compared to the previous year, thanks to the government's management of market supplies.

The SCOLI is calculated using various prices for various products and services ranging from food and beverage, tobacco, and clothing to utilities, medicine, and entertainment.

The SCOLI index maps out socioeconomic development policies and assesses how well policies for reducing hunger and poverty, providing hardship assistance, and subsidizing wages have worked in practice.