The Hanoi Statistics Office said only telecommunications costs remained flat in July while all other commodities saw rises, with building materials and utility bills recording the biggest increase of 0.53%.
Transport costs also rose sharply by 0.51% due to recent spikes in petrol prices.
Food and restaurant services as a whole remained nearly unchanged from the previous month with a slight increase of 0.01%.
Within the food and restaurant services category prices of grains dropped by 2.26% from June thanks to abundant crops and weak demand while other foods and eating out saw respective increases of 0.42% and 0.21%.
In Ho Chi Minh City, consumer prices in July rose at a slower pace than in the capital, up 0.12% from the previous month, with transport costs posting the largest one-month rise of 0.4%.
Food costs and restaurant services also experienced a marked increase, up 0.25% from June, primarily driven by rising prices of meat and vegetables.
In other commodities, the category of entertainment and tourism was down by 0.34% as economic difficulties forced HCMC residents to tighten their budget for recreational activities.
