According to the NSO, higher pork prices due to increased Tet demand, rising prices of dining-out services, and higher costs of housing maintenance materials linked to year-end home renovations were the main contributors to the increase. Compared with the same period last year, January’s CPI rose 2.53%, while core inflation expanded 3.19%.

CPI in January 2026 rose 0.05% month-on-month, with urban areas up 0.02% and rural areas up 0.09%. Of the 11 major commodity and service groups, nine recorded price hikes while two saw declines.

Notably, the housing, electricity, water, fuel and construction materials group rose 0.7%. The beverages and tobacco group increased 0.58% as demand for consumption and gift-giving during Tet pushed up beer and alcohol prices by 0.45%, cigarettes by 0.6%, and non-alcoholic beverages by 0.89%.

The group of other goods and services climbed 0.41%, driven by higher prices for jewellery, up 2.55%, hairdressing services up 0.9%, personal care services and wedding-related services both up 0.56%, worship items up 0.43%, and health insurance up 0.09%.

Household equipment and appliances rose 0.26% on stronger shopping demand during the wedding and Tet season. Food and catering services increased 0.2%, contributing 0.07 percentage points to overall CPI growth, with foodstuffs up 0.29%, food products up 0.09%, and dining-out services up 0.44%.

Meanwhile, the medicine and healthcare services group rose 0.19%, while culture, entertainment and tourism increased 0.07% due to higher holiday-related demands. Education prices edged up 0.05%, largely reflecting tuition adjustments at some private, vocational, and tertiary institutions.

In contrast, the information and communications group fell 0.15%, with prices of phone and tablet accessories down 0.72%, smartphones and tablets down 0.46%, and televisions down 0.09% amid year-end promotions and discount programmes. Telecommunications services declined 0.29%.

Transport prices dropped 2.32%, pulling overall CPI down by 0.23 percentage points, as petrol and diesel prices fell 5.34% and 3.23%, respectively. However, stronger year-end travel demand pushed up air passenger transport fares by 15.18% and rail fares by 4.94%.

The GSO reported that domestic gold prices moved in line with global trends. Domestically, January’s gold price index rose 5.02% from the previous month and surged 77.1% year on year.

The US dollar price index in the domestic market fell 0.29% month on month but rose 3.18% year on year. Core inflation in January increased 0.35% from the previous month and 3.19% year on year, higher than headline CPI growth, as food and energy prices were excluded from its calculation.

Inflationary risk persists as Vietnam targets CPI below 4.5% in 2026: experts

Although inflationary pressures in 2026 are not expected to be particularly high, several risks remain due to the volatility in global energy, fuel and commodity prices, according to Nguyen Thi Huong, director of the National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Finance.