The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in November slightly rose by 0.34 percent against last month, the lowest increase over the last five years.

The figure represented a rise of 5.5 percent against December last year, and 6.65 percent year-on-year, according to statistics released by the General Statistic Office (GSO) on October 24.

Nine out of 11 items in the commodity basket posted price hikes, with the highest level of 0.62 percent seen in food and restaurant services. Medicines and health care services experienced the smallest increase at 0.07 percent.

Transportation and telecom services saw slight falls of 0.34 percent and 0.02 percent respectively.

Food price hikes due to recent floods in the central region contributed to the CPI rise in the month, said Nguyen Duc Thang, head of the GSO’s Price Statistics Department.

Higher prices of some other commodities and services such as garments and textiles, heating machines and building materials also made the CPI up, he added.

In November, the gold price dropped 1.04 percent while the price of US dollar declined 0.1 percent compared to last month.-VNA