The consumer price index (CPI) of Vietnam, which measures changes in the prices paid by consumers for a basket of goods and services, rose 3.85 percent on-year in the first nine months of this year, according to the country's General Statistics Office on Wednesday.

Between January and September, items posting the most significant rises included restaurants and catering services (up 11.27 percent), education (up 4.17 percent), and medicine and health services (up 2.70 percent).

Compared to August, the index grew by 0.12 percent, contributed by price increases of six over the 11 items in the calculation basket. The increase was driven by such factors as increasing prices of education services along with higher electricity prices, according to the office.

Specifically, education saw the largest increase of 2.08 percent, tailed by housing and construction materials (up 0.62 percent) and garment, footwear and hat (up 0.1 percent).

In 2019, the CPI of Vietnam rose 2.79 percent compared to 2018, the lowest level over the past three years.