HCMC – August saw a decline in HCMC’s retail sales of goods while the country’s retail sector posted positive growth during the same period.
The city’s total revenue from retail sales of goods and services in the period was put at VND98,840 billion, down 1.1% against July, said the director of the HCMC Department of Planning and Investment, Le Thi Huynh Mai. She was speaking at a conference on the city’s socioeconomic performance in August and the first eight months of the year.
Of them, revenue from commerce dropped by 0.8%, tourism by 13.5%, and other services by 1.7%. Only accommodation and catering services inched up 0.2%.
Although this nears a 150% year-on-year increase, the comparison is not accurate as retail sales last year plunged 59.4% due to the city being hit hard by the pandemic.
Meanwhile, commercial activities and services in other parts of the country almost recovered in all sectors, achieving positive growth compared to last year and 2019 when Covid-19 had not emerged.
According to statistics from the General Statistics Office, total retail sales of goods and services in August reached VND481.2 trillion, up 0.6% over last month and 50.2% year-on-year. The GSO said the performance of the retail sector in August was still better than the same month of the pre-pandemic years.
Chairman of the city Phan Van Mai said at the meeting that growth in the January-August period was higher than in the same period last year but only due to the impact of Covid-19.
Besides, industrial production recovery was still slow, and industrial parks seemed to reduce production and export value.
