HANOI, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The consumer price index (CPI) of Vietnam, which measures changes in the prices paid by consumers for a basket of goods and services, rose 2.79 percent in 2019, the lowest level over the past three years, the country's General Statistics Office said Thursday.
In the 12-month period, items posting most significant rises included household electricity (up 8.38 percent), education service (up 6.11 percent), foodstuff (up 5.08 percent) and health service (up 4.65 percent).
Meanwhile, the prices of petroleum and oil, household gas and sugar decreased 3.13 percent, 5.98 percent and 3.17 percent respectively in 2019.
In December alone, the index advanced 1.4 percent, the highest level in the past nine years, contributed by price hikes of 10 out of the 11 items in the calculation basket. Specifically, restaurants and catering services saw the largest increase of 3.42 percent, tailed by traffic (up 0.61 percent) and housing and construction materials (up 0.43 percent).
Vietnam has set the target of keeping the CPI below 4 percent in 2020.
