Vietnam’s GDP grows 5.64% in first half as industry and construction boom

Vietnam recorded a year-on-year GDP growth of 5.64 percent in the first half of this year, three times higher than the growth rate of 1.82 per cent posted in the same period last year, the country’s General Statistics Office announced Tuesday.

“Amid the complicated development of the Covid-19 pandemic in several localities, the result reflected great efforts of the government, businesses and the people to realise the goals of both controlling the epidemic and developing the economy,” said the office.

Specifically, the sector of agriculture, forestry and fishery grew by 3.82 per cent against the same period last year, while the industry and construction sector grew 8.36 per cent and services up 3.96 per cent.

Growth picked up on increases in industrial output as demand recovered in global markets, and as favorable weather boosted agricultural products, Nguyen Thi Huong, head of the General Statistics Office, said in a briefing in Hanoi. Increased government spending also helped drive the expansion, she told Bloomberg.

The three sectors respectively contributed 8.17 per cent, 59.05 percent and 32.78 per cent to the overall growth, said the office.

In the second quarter alone, Vietnam posted a GDP growth of 6.61 per cent compared to the low base of 0.39 per cent recorded last year.

Vietnam’s GDP grew 2.91 per cent in 2020, the lowest growth reported over the past decade. A growth target of around 6 percent in 2021 was previously set by its top legislature.

In a report released in April, the International Monetary Fund projected that Vietnam’s economy would grow by 6.5 per cent in 2021, higher than the global average of 6 per cent, before rebounding to 7.2 per cent next year.

Vietnam was successful at limiting infections during the early months of the pandemic, but an outbreak that began in late-April forced the temporary closure of industrial parks housing key electronics manufacturing hubs. Tenants included units of Foxconn Technology Group and suppliers of Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc.