A supermarket in HCM City (Photo: VNA) The rise was attributed to the extended social distancing measures that pushed up demand for essential items like foodstuff while supply was in a shortage and transportation costs rose.
Three commodity groups posted rising prices, which are food and catering services with a 1.68 percent increase; beverages and tobacco 0.75 percent; and education 0.003 percent.
The prices of pharmaceutical products and health care services remained stable.
Meanwhile, declines were reported in the prices of other groups, with housing, electricity, water, fuel, and building materials experiencing the strongest contraction of 0.84 percent.
In August, the prices for both gold and US dollar in the city fell by 0.05 percent compared to the previous month.
The average CPI in the first eight months of 2021 rose by 2.51 percent compared to that of the same period last year./.
VNA
