Pork price pushes up November CPI

The total number of culled pigs was nearly 5,900,000 with a total weight of 335,700 tonnes by November 15. (Photo sggp.org.vn)

The November CPI rose by 3.52 percent compared to the same month last year.

The General Statistics Office (GSO) attributed it to the rising price of pork and pork products due to declining supply caused by the African swine fever crisis.

The total number of culled pigs was over 5,850,000 with a total weight of 335,700 tonnes by November 15, the GSO said.

However, the average CPI of the 11 months increased by only 2.57 percent compared to the same period last year, the lowest growth rate for the period in the last three years.

Nine of 11 groups of consumer goods and services have seen prices rise over the last month, said Do Thi Ngoc, director of GSO’s CPI department.

These include food and catering services; beverages and tobacco; other commodities and services; housing and construction materials; clothing, hats and footwear; household appliances; medicines and healthcare services; education; and culture, entertainment and tourism.

Two groups of goods witnessing declines included transport and post and telecommunications.

In addition, the petrol and oil prices dropped by 1.7 percent from last month, helping push the general growth of CPI by about 0.07 percentage points.

The domestic gold price this month also declined 0.63 percent compared to last month on the falling global gold price.

At the same time, the value of the US dollar dropped by 0.13 percent on plentiful domestic reserve foreign currency and the influence of the US-China trade war.

The average core inflation of 11 months (CPI growth excluding food, foodstuff and fresh food, energy, health care and education) climbed 1.94 percent compared to the same period last year.