Hanoi, March 29 : Vietnam's consumer price index rose 4.18 per cent in the first three months of 2023 from a year earlier on the back of higher food, housing, and education costs, according to government statistics data released on Wednesday. Higher education expenses, up 10.13 per cent in the first quarter, continued to drive up living costs and contributed the most to the annual inflation, followed by housing and construction materials prices, which increased 7.17 per cent year on year, and the cost of food and food services went up 4.41 per cent, Xinhua news agency quoted the General Statistics Office (GSO) as saying in a statement. Despite a drop of 11.09 per cent in fuel prices, the statistics authorities said core inflation, excluding more volatile food, energy, and other public services prices, jumped 5.01 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier. Consumer price index in March rose 3.35 per cent from a year ago but dipped 0.23 per cent from February when inflation edged up 0.45 per cent month-over-month and jumped 4.31 per cent year-on-year, indicating the underlying trend showed inflation might be slowing. Inflation cooled a bit in March mainly because gasoline prices fell in line with lower global fuel prices, and drops in food and food services, driven by abundant supply, also contributed to the index, said Nguyen Thi Huong, head of the GSO. Vietnam has set the target of keeping the overall inflation for this year at 4.5 per cent. /IANS