Vietnam's consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, in May saw a slight decline of 0.03% against the previous month, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). 

Data: GSO. Chart: Hai Yen.

The rate declined 1.24% versus the end of 2019, the lowest in the 2016 – 2020 period, but went up 2.4% year-on-year, resulting in an increase of 4.39% year-on-year of the CPI in the first five months of 2020, the highest five-month growth rate over the last three years.

Four out of 11 commodity groups, which are components of the basket for CPI calculation, witnessed month-on-month declines in prices. Among them, transportation posted the sharpest decrease of 2.21%, mainly due to reductions in fuel prices on April 28 and May 15, shaving 0.21 percentage points off the overall CPI.

Other groups that saw their prices down in May were post and telecommunications (-0.02%); culture, entertainment, and tourism (-0.02%); and garment, footwear and hats (-0.01%).

Meanwhile, the seven groups that saw their prices up in May were food and catering services (0.34%); beverages and cigarettes (0.25%); housing, water and electricity supply, and construction materials (0.25%); household equipment and appliances (0.05%); medicine and healthcare services (0.04%); other goods and services (0.07%); only education remained flat.

According to the GSO, core inflation in May went down 0.03% month-on-month, resulting in an increase of 2.54% year-on-year and a rise of 2.88% in the first five months compared to the same period of 2019.