Vietnam at a glance

1. Overview of Vietnam’s economy - 2023 

GDP Growth

Gross domestic product (GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2023 was estimated to increase by 6.72% over the same period last year, higher than the fourth quarter of 2012-2013 and 2020-2022 and with a positive trend, the next quarter was higher than the previous quarter (first quarter increased by 3.41%, second quarter increased by 4.25%, third quarter increased by 5.47%).

The agriculture, forestry, and fishery sector increased by 4.13%, contributing 7.51% to the increase in total added value of the entire economy; the industry and construction sector increased by 7.35%, contributing 42.58%; the service sector increased by 7.29%, contributing 49.91%. Regarding GDP usage in the fourth quarter of 2023, final consumption increased by 4.86% over the same period last year, contributing 53.18% to the overall growth rate of the economy; accumulated assets increased by 6.21%, contributing 44.18%; export of goods and services increased by 8.68%; imports of goods and services increased by 8.76%; the difference between import and export of goods and services contributes 2.64%.

GDP scale at current prices in 2023 was estimated to reach 10,221.8 trillion VND, equivalent to 430 billion USD. GDP per capita in 2023 at current prices was estimated to reach 101.9 million VND/person, equivalent to 4,284.5 USD, an increase of 160 USD compared to 2022.

Agriculture, forestry and fishery - 2023

Agricultural, forestry and fishery production in 2023 growed positively, maintaining the supporting role of the economy. The rice area for the whole year was estimated at 7.12 million hectares, an increase of 10.6 thousand hectares compared to the previous year, the rice yield was estimated at 61 quintals/ha, an increase of 1 quintal/ha; Rice output reached 43.5 million tons, an increase of 0.8 mill. tons. Food grain output in 2023 reached 47.9 million tons, an increase of 790 thousand tons compared to 2022, of which corn output reached 4.4 million tons, a decrease of 4.7 thousand tons.

– Perennial trees: In 2023, the perennial crop area was estimated at 3,760.3 thousand ha, up 1.1% compared to 2022, of which industrial plants reached 2,161.4 thousand ha, down 0.9%; fruit trees reached 1,267.3 thousand ha, up 4.1%.

– Livestock: Livestock has developed stably, epidemics were basically controlled.

The area of concentrated newly planted forests the fourth quarter, 2023 was estimated at 103.5thousand hectares, down 5% over the same period last year; the damaged forest area was 130.5 hectares, down 41%. General, in 2023, the area of newly concentrated planted forest was estimated at 298.2 thousand hectares, down 2.7% over last year; the damaged forest area was 1,722.3 hectares, up 53.5%.

Fishery output in the fourth quarter of 2023 was estimated at 2,516.3 thousand tons, up 2.6% over the same period last year. General, in 2023, the fishery production was estimated at 9,312.3 thousand tons, up 2.2% compared to 2022, of which aquaculture production reached 5,455.8 thousand tons, up 4.2%; the caught fishery production reached 3,856.5 thousand tons, down 0.5%.

Industry

– The added value of the industry sector in 2023 is estimated to increase by 3.02% compared to the previous year. Of which, the manufacturing industry increased by 3.62%, contributing 0.93 percentage points to the increase in total added value of the entire economy.

Main industrial products – 2023

 

unit

2022

Change (%) vs 2021

Coal

‘000 tons

49854.7

1.032

Electricity

‘mln kwk

258790.9

1.057

Cement

‘000 tons

117625.8

1.058

Copper ores

tons

111022.7

1.123

Sainitation porcelain

‘000 pieces

96884.5

1.238

Motobike. bicycle tyre)

‘000 pieces

85916

1.094

Shampoo, conditioner

ton

65107.3

1.013

Shower creame, cleansing foam

ton

55424.2

1.057

Pesticide

ton

52418.3

1.031

Milled rice

‘000 tons

42935.5

1.086

Toothpastes

ton

40701.6

0.931

Sands

‘000.m3

40064.4

1.282

Car tyre

‘000 pieces

34758

1.116

Steel

‘000 tons

34146.5

1.081

Printer

‘000 pieces

29616.7

1.188

Steel bars

‘000 tons

21866.4

0.877

Animal and Poultry feed

‘000 tons

18897

1.034

Crude oil

‘000 tons

10840

0.988

Domestic Crude oil

‘000 tons

8980

0.987

Natural gas

mln.m3

8080

1.083

Car, plane tube

‘000 pieces

7250.1

1.088

Cigarettes

mln. packets

6832.1

1.067

Clothes

mln. packets

5957.1

1.075

Sawn wood

‘000 tons

5511.3

1.002

Aquatic feed

‘000. m3

5032.4

0.958

Beer

mln. lits

4409.6

1.264

Chemical fertilizer

‘000 tons

4290.4

0.997

Assembled motobike

‘000 pieces

4238.7

1.099

Textile fibres

‘000 tons

3649.9

1.036

NPK fertilizers

‘000 tons

3596.3

0.985

Pebbles, Gravel

‘000. m3

3283.9

1.489

 

 

Enterprise registration status

- In December, the whole country had 13.3 thousand newly established enterprises, down 7.1% over the previous month and up 23% over the same period last year; 6,393 re-operated enterprises, down 2.6% and up 4.7%; 3,802 enterprises ceased for a certain time, down 15.7% and up 0.7%; 8,687 enterprises temporarily ceased and awaited dissolution procedures, an increase of 31.7% and an increase of 48.6%; 1,866 enterprises completed dissolution procedures, an increase of 29.3% and an increase of 6%.

– Overall, in 2023, the whole country will have 217.7 thousand newly registered businesses and return to operation, an increase of 4.5% compared to the previous year; On average, each month, there were 18.1 thousand new businesses established and returned to operation. The number of businesses withdrawing from the market was 172.6 thousand, an increase of 20.5%; On average, 14.4 thousand businesses withdraw from the market every month.

Retail sales of consumer goods and services

Total retail sales of consumer goods and services in December was estimated at 565.8 trillion VND, up 2.6% over the previous month and up 9.3% over the same period last year. In the fourth quarter of 2023, total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue are estimated to reach 1,662.7 trillion VND, up 7.2% over the previous quarter and up 9.3% over the same period last year. In 2023, the retail sales of consumer goods and services at current prices was estimated at 6,231.8 trillion VND, up 9.6% compared to the previous year (up 20% in 2022), if excluding the price factor, up 7.1% (in 2022 increased by 15.8%).

International visitors to Vietnam

International visitors to Viet Nam in December reached nearly 1.4 million arrivals, up 11.2 % compared to the previous month and increased by 93.9% than the same period last year. The number of Vietnamese people leaving the country reached 352.1 thousand people, increased by 23.2% than the same period last year.

Foreign direct investment

Total foreign investment capital registered in Vietnamas of December 20, 2023, including: Newly registered capital, adjusted registered capital and value of capital contributions and share purchases by foreign investors reached nearly 36.6 billion USD, an increase of 32.1%. Foreign direct investment capital realized in Vietnam in 2023 is estimated to reach 23.18 billion USD, an increase of 3.5% over the previous year . This is the highest amount of realized foreign direct investment in the past 5 years.

Vietnam’s investment abroad in 2023 had 124 projects newly granted investment certificates with a total Vietnamese capital of 282.7 million USD, down 33.7% compared to the previous year ; There were 25 projects with capital adjusted with the adjusted capital increasing by 138.2 million USD, 1.3 times higher. In general, Vietnam’s total investment capital abroad (new and adjusted capital) reached 420.9 million USD, down 21.2% compared to the previous year.

Exports

Export turnover of goods in December 2023 was estimated at 32.91 billion USD, up 5.7% over the previous month and up 13.1% compared to the same period last year. In the forth quarter of 2023, export turnover was estimated at 96.5 billion USD, up 8.8% over the same period last year and up 3.2% compared to the third quarter of 2023. Generally in 2023, the export turnover was estimated at 355.5 billion USD, decreased by 4.4% over last year.

+ Regarding the structure of exported groups in 2023, the group of processing industry was estimated at 313.73 billion USD, accounting for 88.3%.

 

Imports

Import turnover in December 2023 was estimated at 30.63 billion USD, increased by 3.6% over the previous month and increased by 12.3% compared to the same period last year. In the forth quarter of 2023, import turnover was estimated at 90.2 billion USD, up 8% over the same period last year and up 6.3% compared to the third quarter of 2023. Generally in 2023, the import turnover was estimated at 327.5 billion USD, decreased by 8.9% over last year.

+ Regarding the structure of imported groups in 2023, the group of production materials was estimated at 307.32 billion USD, accounted for 93.8%.

The export and import market of goods in 2023, the United States was Viet Nam’s largest export market with a turnover of 96.8 billion USD. China remained the largest import market of Viet Nam with a turnover of 111.6 billion USD.

– The trade balance of goods in December was estimated to have a trade surplus of 2.28 billion USD. Generally in 2023, the trade balance of goods was estimated to have a trade surplus of 28 billion USD (last year, the trade surplus of 12.1 billion USD).

Exports and imports of services

In the forth quarter of 2023, export turnover of services reached 5.4 billion USD, increased by 15.2% over the same period in previous year and up 6.5% over previous quarter; import turnover of services reached 8.1 billion USD, went up by 20.4% over the same period in previous year and up 3.4% over previous quarter.

Generally in 2023, export turnover of services was estimated at 19.59 billion USD, went up by 44.9% over last year 2022, of which travel service gained 9.2 billion USD (accounting for 46.7% of the total turnover), 2.9 times higher than last year; transportation service reached 5.5 billion USD (accounting for 28.1%), decreased by 1.8%.

 

Vietnam at a glance

 

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

Population (million)

96,484

97,583

98,506

99,474

100,3

GDP per capita (USD)

3.491

3.686

3.756

4.163

4.284

GDP (USD bn)

332

346

370

406

430

Economic Growth (GDP, annual variation in %)

7,4

2,9

2,6

8,0

5,05

Industrial Production (annual variation in %)

6,9

2,4

2,1

15,5

1,5

Unemployment Rate

1,62

1,50

2,52

3,10

2,28

Inflation Rate (CPI, annual variation in %, eop)

5,2

0,2

1,8

4,5

3,54

Inflation Rate (CPI, annual variation in %)

5,2

0,2

1,8

4,5

3,25

Inflation (PPI, annual variation in %)

1,3

-0,6

2,9

4,2

3,02

Exchange Rate (vs USD)

23.227

23.236

22.936

23.409

23.784

Trade Balance (USD billion)

21,2

30,7

15,7

25,6

28

Exports (USD billion)

264

283

336

372

355

Imports (USD billion)

243

252

320

346

327

Exports (annual variation in %)

8,4

7,0

18,9

10,5

-4,4

Imports (annual variation in %)

7,0

3,7

27,2

7,9

-8,9

 

Top 10 exported commodities of Vietnam in 2023

 

Major Products

Value (billion USD)

Compared to 2022 (%)

1

Computers, electronic products and components

87,966

+7,45%

2

Other machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts

41,580

-7,88%

3

Fabrics of all kinds

13,017

-11,47%

4

Iron and Steel

10,425

-12,55%

5

Plastic materials

9,755

-21,24%

6

Phones of all types and accessories

8,749

-58,59%

7

Petroleum

8,365

-6,74%

8

Chemistry

7,727

-15,50%

9

Other common metals

7,627

-17,60%

10

Chemical products

7,605

-17,60%

(Source: Vietnam Customs)

Vietnam’s exports and imports in 2023

 

 

Continent/market

Export

Import

Trade volume

Value (billion USD)

Compared to  2022 (%)

Value (billion USD

Compared to 2022 (%)

Value (billion USD

Compared to 2022 (%)

Asia

79.88

5.4

135.02

11.1

214.90

8.9

ASEAN

18.16

-3.7

23.83

3.7

41.99

0.4

China

17.14

14.8

49.53

13.3

66.67

13.7

Japan

14.14

-3.8

14.37

11.2

28.51

3.2

S. Korea

8.93

25.0

27.63

27.0

36.56

26.5

America

41.51

17.4

13.91

22.6

55.42

18.6

United States

33.48

16.9

7.80

23.8

41.28

18.1

Europe

34.25

7.7

12.30

14.4

46.55

9.4

EU (27)

30.94

10.9

10.45

17.8

41.39

12.5

Africa

3.14

5.9

1.97

16.6

5.11

9.8

Oceania

3.33

-22.9

2.45

-4.9

5.79

-16.2

(Source: Vietnam Customs)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top foreign investors in Vietnam - 2023

 

 

Number of FDI projects injecting additional investment

Additional investment (million USD)

Total new and additional investments (million USD)

1

Singapore

410

3769,979

6803,507

2

Japan

302

2856,345

6566,038

3

Hong Kong

315

3413,007

4684,039

4

China

707

3544,394

4470,894

5

Korea

472

1840,879

4400,943

6

Taiwan

210

2246,224

2883,817

7

Samoa

43

257,282

934,744

8

Thailand

57

490,594

879,503

9

Netherlands

20

275,928

805,762

10

USA

124

113,09

626,322

Source: Foreign Investment Agency (FIA)

 

Top FDI provincial destinations in Vietnam - 2023

 

 

Number of FDI projects injecting additional investment

Additional investment (million USD)

Total new and additional investments (million USD)

1

Ho Chi Minh City

1202

598,299

5851,951

2

Hai Phong

119

1478,7

3262,313

3

Quang Ninh

26

3103,926

3110,572

4

Bac Giang

92

1529,529

3015,639

5

Thai Binh

34

2686,315

2790,634

6

Hanoi

408

440,976

2732,979

7

Bac Ninh

384

1089,29

1769,745

8

Nghe An

19

1326,934

1603,287

9

Binh Duong

136

639,798

1537,93

10

Dong Nai

85

558,927

1514,176

Source: Foreign Investment Agency (FIA)