Vietnam’s GDP expands 5.05 percent in 2023: stats office

Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.05 percent this year, lower than its target of 6.5 percent, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

However,the result was still considered positive amid the gloomy global economy as Vietnam was among the countries with the highest economic growth in the region.

During the 2011-23 period, the country’s 2023 GDP growth was higher than that in 2020 and 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, the GSO informed at a press conference in Hanoi on Friday.

Nguyen Thi Huong, head of the GSO, said the agro-forestry-fishery, industry and construction, and service sectors grew 3.83, 3.74, and 6.82 percent, contributing 8.84, 28.87, and 62.29 percent to the GDP growth this year, respectively. 

The statistics office revealed that Vietnam’s GDP is now estimated at US$430 billion.

GDP per capita reached VND101.9 million ($4,284), up $160 year on year.

In the last quarter of this year alone, the country’s GDP rose 6.72 percent over the same period last year, higher than the figure for the quarter in 2020-22.

Q4 economic growth was also higher than in previous quarters of the year, specifically 3.41, 4.25, and 5.47 percent in the first, second, and third quarters, respectively.

Huong reported the local economy’s labor productivity at $8,380 per worker, rising $274 over 2022.

The GSO leader said the agro-forestry-fishery sector posted a positive growth rate this year, while industrial production faced multiple difficulties.

Retail sales of goods and services totaled VND6,200 trillion ($255.5 billion) in 2023, picking up 9.6 percent over the previous year.

As for tourism, the Southeast Asian country welcomed 12.6 million international tourist arrivals this year, a 3.4-fold increase over 2022 and far exceeding the target of eight million.

However, the number was only equal to 70 percent of the count of foreign travelers coming to the country in 2019, when COVID-19 had yet to hit it.

In terms of trade, Vietnam reported a decline of 4.4 percent in exports in 2023 to $355.5 billion and 8.9 percent in imports to $327.5 billion.

As a result, the country enjoyed a trade surplus of $28 billion, surging $16 billion compared with last year.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.25 percent. Thus, Vietnam met its CPI target of below four percent this year.

By Thanh Ha & Bao Ngoc – Tuoi Tre News – December 29, 2023