Vietnam’s consumer prices index (CPI) in March edged up 1.23% from the previous month as surging global fuel costs and higher construction material expenses fed through to domestic prices, the Finance Ministry’s National Statistics Office reported on April 4.

Consumers shop at the WinMart Thang Long supermarket in Hanoi (Photo: VNA)

The March index gained 2.44% from December 2025 and posted a 4.65% year-on-year hike, the highest March reading in five years.

Price pressures broadened, with nine out of 11 major categories recording gains in March. Transport led the surge, skyrocketing 12.85% and contributing 1.28 percentage points to headline CPI as petrol prices exploded 29.72%, diesel jumped 57.03% amid the Middle East conflict-triggered supply disruptions, and air passenger fares soared 23.19% while rail transport rose nearly 14%. Spare parts added 0.65% on higher input and import costs.

Housing, utilities, fuel and construction materials advanced 0.77%, adding 0.17 points, driven by input costs. In particular, kerosene surged more than 62.3%, gas climbed 5.56%, and repair/construction services moved up, though electricity and water prices eased slightly on lower usage.

Other categories, including healthcare, beverages & tobacco, household equipment, communications, education and miscellaneous goods and services, posted modest gains, reflecting higher production costs, exchange rate pressures and public services’ price adjustments. Pharmaceutical prices rose 0.49% month-on-month on costlier imported raw materials, production and distribution expenses.

Meanwhile, two categories saw price declines last month. Food and catering services fell 0.59%, shaving 0.21 percentage points off CPI as food prices dropped 1.41%. Culture, entertainment and tourism slipped 0.05% on post-Lunar New Year demand weakness.

For the first quarter as a whole, the CPI climbed 3.51%. Particularly, housing and construction materials jumped 5.69% while food and catering services rose 4.55%, together driving most of the CPI increase.

Education prices climbed 3.21% on tuition adjustments for the 2025–2026 academic year at some private and vocational schools. Transport rebounded 1.07% in Q1 after earlier weakness as March’s fuel spike offset prior declines.

Communications prices fell 0.20% year-on-year on abundant supply of some technological devices and fierce distributor competition during the first three months.

Core inflation, stripping out fresh food, energy and state-controlled items like healthcare and education services, rose 0.47% month-on-month and 3.96% year-on-year in March. It rose 3.63% year-on-year in the first quarter, slightly above headline CPI, as falling food prices partly eased pressures.

Speaking at the press conference, Huong warned that Vietnam must maintain macroeconomic stability, ensure major economic balances and secure supply adequacy while keeping prices and markets under control to avoid inflationary pressure.

Authorities should closely monitor the Middle East military conflicts, global oil and shipping costs, and exchange rate movements to update growth and inflation scenarios in a timely manner, she said.

She also called for flexible fuel price governance via taxes, fees and the price stabilisation fund to cushion domestic price hikes, while urging careful sequencing of adjustments to electricity, healthcare, education and other state-managed prices to avoid compounding inflationary risks./.