Food Prices Are Rising

What is pushing prices up

According to a survey by Zing News in Ho Chi Minh City in late 2021, many foods had become more expensive than in early October. Higher fuel, fertiliser and agricultural input prices, combined with limited supply, were the main reasons.

What the market looked like

• At a traditional market in District 4, prices rose by about VND 2,000–7,000 depending on the item. For example, water spinach reached VND 30,000 per kg, up VND 5,000.
• The director of a safe-vegetable cooperative in Da Lat said herbs such as coriander, spring onion and other aromatic vegetables hit record highs of VND 50,000–60,000 per kg at wholesale markets.
• He added that fertiliser, seed and crop-protection prices had risen two to three times, making farmers cautious about planting.

Impact on households

Shoppers interviewed by Zing said they were buying only essentials and eating out less, as the cost of daily items rose.

Outlook

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development forecast that food demand and prices would rise toward the end of the year as services reopened. An economist at the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR) said inflation pressure at the end of 2021 was not high and remained within the government's target, but warned of risks for 2022 as production costs stayed high.

Source: reporting by Zing News, late 2021.

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