The regular socio-economic report for August 2025 and the first eight months of 2025, released by the General Statistics Office (Ministry of Finance) on September 6, stated that within August’s 0.05% increase in CPI compared to the previous month, eight groups of goods and services recorded price increases, while three groups saw decreases.
Accordingly, the group of housing, electricity, water, fuel and construction materials rose by 0.21%, mainly due to rental housing prices rising by 0.28% as demand increased in certain localities during the new academic year when students returned to major cities for study; household electricity prices climbed by 1.01% because of hot weather driving up demand; and housing maintenance materials increased by 0.49% due to higher brick, sand, and stone prices as supply tightened and production and transport costs rose amid high construction demand. On the other hand, some commodities fell compared to the previous month, such as gas and kerosene.
The three groups of goods and services with price declines included postal and telecommunications, down 0.04%. Within this, smartphones and tablets, landline telephones, and regular mobile phones decreased, while mobile phone repairs rose by 0.6% and accessories for smartphones and tablets increased by 0.55%.
Statistics also showed that core inflation in August rose by 0.19% compared to the previous month and by 3.25% year on year. On average over the first eight months of 2025, core inflation rose by 3.19% compared to the same period in 2024, lower than the overall CPI increase of 3.25%. This was mainly because food, foodstuffs, household electricity, healthcare services, and education services — factors pushing CPI upward — were excluded from the core inflation calculation.
Domestic gold prices fluctuated in line with world gold prices. As of August 30, 2025, the global average gold price stood at 3,418.45 USD/ounce, up 1.47% from the previous month. Domestically, the gold price index in August rose by 1.2% compared to the previous month, up 48.62% year on year, and up 36.51% compared to December 2024. On average over the first eight months of 2025, gold prices increased by 40.25% compared to the same period in 2024.
Domestic US dollar prices moved in the opposite direction of global trends. As of August 30, 2025, the global US dollar index has fallen by 0.14% from the previous month, mainly due to expectations that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates in September 2025 to support growth. Domestically, the US dollar price index in August increased by 0.36% from the previous month, up 4.43% year on year, and up 3.67% compared to December 2024. On average, in the first eight months of 2025, the US dollar price index rose by 3.45% year on year.
