VINACHEM

Mr. Nguyen Bich Lam, general director of the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO), said at the press conference held on September 28 that gross domestic product (GDP) of Vietnam in the first nine months of this year was estimated to rise by 6.98 percent over the same period last year, the highest level in the past nine years.

In the general economic growth, agro-forestry-aquatic sector climbed 2.02 percent compared to an increase of 3.7 percent in the same period last year, contributing 4.8 percent to general economic growth; industrial and construction sector advanced 9.36 percent, adding an increase of 52.6 percent to general economic growth; and service sector surged 6.85 percent, making a contribution of 42.6 percent to general economic growth.

The main motivation of economic growth in the first nine months of this year is industrial processing and manufacturing industry and market services. Meanwhile, consumer price index (CPI) in September edged up 0.32 percent over the previous month. Nine-month CPI rose 2.5 percent over the same period last year, the lowest level in the last three years.

Noticeably, employment situation in the first nine months of this year also had positive changes. The country’s workforce in the third quarter of this year was estimated at 55.7 million people, up 211,700 people over the previous month and up 263,800 people over the same period last year. The number of employed people increased while unemployment rate gradually declined. Labor force structure has changed positively, reducing the proportion of labor in agro-forestry-aquatic sector and increasing the proportion of labor in industrial, construction and service sectors with the quality of labor gradually improving and the income of laborers tending to climb.

According to forecast of the leader of GSO, GDP is expected to grow 6.8 percent and CPI will rise below 3 percent this year.

As for tourism, according to the GSO, in the first nine months of this year, foreign visitors to Vietnam hit 12.9 million people, an increase of 10.8 percent over the same period last year. September is the fourth month since the beginning of this year and the second consecutive month which has seen the number of foreign visitors to the country above 1.5 million people. The number of visitors to the country by land climbed most with 23.5 percent; by air grew 8.3 percent; whereas by sea slid 0.6 percent. Visitors from Asia soared 12.5 percent; from Europe inched up 5.3 percent; from America went up 6.8 percent; and from Africa hiked 10.8 percent over the same period last year.

Information from the World Economic Forum also showed that competitive edge of Vietnamese tourism industry has improved significantly from the 67th place in 2017 to the 63rd place. - SGGP-