HCMC – Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first half of this year stood at 3.72%, which is relatively low compared to the average GDP growth rate in the past decade.
The growth rate is only slightly higher than in the first half of 2020 when the country was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to data released by the General Statistics Office (GSO) during a press conference in Hanoi, the country’s GDP expanded by 4.14% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2023.
In January-June, the agro-forestry-fishery sector grew by 3.07%, while manufacturing and construction as a whole saw a modest increase of 1.13%.
The services sector, however, performed better with a year-on-year growth rate of 6.33%, contributing 78.85% to the overall growth, driven by domestic consumption recovery and tourism promotion programs.
Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.27% month-on-month in June 2023. The average CPI for the first half of the year increased by 3.29% compared to the same period last year.
In terms of trade, Vietnam’s exports in the six-month period reached around US$164.45 billion, down 12.1% year-on-year, while imports amounted to US$152.2 billion, a decrease of 18.2%.
As a result, the country achieved a trade surplus of US$12.25 billion, which is around 10 times higher than in the same period last year.
