VINACHEM

Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 5.66% in the first quarter of this year, marking the highest growth rate compared to the same period from 2020 to 2023, reported the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The figure is close to projections by several international financial institutions such as Standard Chartered Bank or Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB) that have recently forecast Vietnamese GDP growth at between 5.5% and 6.1% in the first quarter.

The GSO report unveiled on March 29 shows the industrial and construction sector continues to serve as the backbone of the national economy, increasing by 6.28%. Thanks to measures to accelerate public investment, the sector contributed nearly 41.7% to the economy’s overall growth rate.

Tourism and trade promotion also helped the services sector to edge up 6.12%, contributing more than 542.2% to national GDP. The agro-forestry-fisheries sector recovered more slowly, increasing by 2.98%.

With regard to economic structure, agro-forestry-fisheries accounted for 11.8%, industry and construction 35.7%, and services 43.5%, which are equivalent to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the consumer price index (CPI) in the first quarter inched up 3.77% year on year.

The three-month period also witnessed bustling import and export activities with trade turnover reaching more than US$178 billion, representing a rise of 15.5% year on year.

Of the figure, exports soared by 17% while imports also rose by nearly 14%, and the country racked up a trade surplus of US$8.08 billion in the reviewed period.

Source: VOV