CPI in May increases by 0.29%: Pressure from electricity, water, and gasoline prices in the hot season
Severe hot weather drives up demand and prices of electricity and domestic water, along with increases in gasoline and construction material prices, are the main drivers of the CPI in May 2026...
High electricity demand during the hot season is one of the main reasons pushing up the CPI in May 2026. Illustrative image.
According to the report dated June 3, 2026 from the General Statistics Office (Ministry of Finance), the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in May 2026 recorded an increase of 0.29% compared to the previous month. Overall, in the first 5 months of 2026, CPI increased by 4.31% compared to the same period last year.
10 OUT OF 11 ITEM GROUPS RISE, ELECTRICITY AND WATER LEAD
Notably, out of 11 main consumer goods and services groups, up to 10 groups recorded price increases compared to the previous month, with only the food and food services group moving downward.
Leading the increase was the housing, electricity, water, fuel, and construction materials group with a rise of 0.96%, contributing 0.22 percentage points to the overall CPI. In particular, the sweltering weather caused residential electricity prices to surge by 2.38% and domestic water prices to increase by 1.41%.
In addition, renovation demand pushed up rental prices by 0.71%, home repair services by 0.69%, and home maintenance materials by 0.81%. On the other hand, gas prices fell by 1.50% in line with the global trend, partially curbing the overall upward trend.
The transport group increased by 0.83% (contributing 0.08 percentage points to the overall CPI), mainly due to a 2.12% rise in gasoline prices. Various costs such as vehicle maintenance (+0.59%), driver's license fees (+0.82%), and toll fees (+0.68%) all increased. On the other hand, diesel prices fell sharply by 16.42% and public transport services decreased by 1.47%.
CPI growth rate in May 2026 compared to the previous month. Source: General Statistics Office.
Summer cooling demand also stimulated the culture, entertainment, and tourism group, which rose by 0.48%. Package tour prices increased by 1.19% (domestic tours up 1.35%, foreign tours up 0.27%) due to rising travel and accommodation costs. The beverages and tobacco group (+0.21%), and household equipment and supplies group (+0.17%) also increased slightly due to pressure from raw material, labor, and transportation costs. In particular, demand for cooling equipment such as air conditioners increased by 0.50%, and electric fans by 0.35%.
Other groups such as other goods and services (+0.14%), clothing, hats, footwear (+0.13%), medicine and medical services (+0.10%), information and communication (+0.04%), and education (+0.03%) recorded slight fluctuations. Notably, within the medical group, the hot weather increased demand for painkillers and fever reducers (+0.64%) and respiratory drugs (+0.42%).
As the only group to decrease in the month, the food and food services group fell by 0.14%, helping to reduce the overall CPI by 0.05 percentage points. This cooling was mainly due to a 0.68% drop in foodstuffs and a 0.25% drop in food. However, dining out still maintained an increase of 0.36%.
Compared to December 2025, the CPI in May increased by 3.61% and by 5.60% compared to the same period last year. On average for the first 5 months of 2026, the housing, electricity, water, fuel, and construction materials group recorded the highest increase of 6.64%, followed by transport at 5.22% and food and food services at 4.77%.
Regarding core inflation, this index in May increased by 0.34% compared to the previous month and by 4.67% compared to the same period last year. Overall, in the first 5 months of 2026, core inflation increased by 4.04%, lower than the overall CPI increase of 4.31%. This is because core inflation excludes volatile factors from energy (gasoline, gas) and food.
GOLD PRICES PLUMMET, USD FLUCTUATES SLIGHTLY
The financial market recorded developments in line with international trends.
In the gold market, profit-taking pressure after a period of sharp increases and the stable sentiment of global investors caused the average world gold price as of May 27 to fall by 2.40% compared to April, dropping to 4,619.18 USD/ounce. Consequently, domestic enterprises also made strong adjustments, bringing the gold price index in May down by 4.11% compared to the previous month. However, in the long term, gold prices remain very high, increasing by 33.87% compared to the same period last year and by 65.97% on average in the first 5 months of 2026.
Regarding the USD, the international dollar index fell slightly by 0.01 points to 98.62 points due to market expectations that the Fed might cut interest rates. Conversely, in the domestic free market, due to high demand for foreign currency, the US dollar price hovered around 26,375 VND/USD, bringing the USD price index in May up slightly by 0.02% compared to the previous month. Compared to the same period last year, the USD price index increased by 0.78% and by 1.99% on average in the first 5 months of the year.
