GDP growth hits 10-year low

Due to the novel coronavirus impact, Vietnam’s GDP growth hit roughly 3.82 percent in Q1, the lowest since 2010, the General Statistics Office reported Friday. It was lower than the earlier worst case scenario forecast of 5.96 percent for the whole year by the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

The manufacturing and construction sector grew by 7.12 percent in Q1, the highest of any sector. Services grew by 3.27 percent and agriculture, forestry and fisheries by 0.08 percent. As many as 18,600 companies temporarily suspended business in Q1, up 26 percent year-on-year.

The accommodation and food industry fell 11.04 percent year-on-year as hotels record plummeting occupancy while restaurants are ordered closed to limit contagion.

The number of tourist arrivals fell 18 percent year-on-year to 3.7 million, with steep drops in China, South Korea and the U.S.

Local airlines, which have stopped all international flights, served 11.9 million passengers in Q1, down 8 percent.

Exports value grew 0.5 percent compared to 4.7 percent in the same period last year, with textiles down 8.9 percent and seafood down 11.2 percent. Both sectors have reported a large number of orders from the E.U., U.S. and China canceled due to coronavirus impacts there.

Import value fell 1.9 percent year-on-year, with a 18 percent drop in China, the largest market.

Consumer price index hit a four-year high of 5.56 percent, with double-digit growth in food prices.

Vietnam targets a GDP growth of 6.8 percent this year, but officials have forecast that the coronavirus pandemic could drag the figure to the seven-year low of 5.96 percent.

Last year, GDP growth hit 7.02 percent, the second highest growth figure in the last decade, after the record 7.08 percent in 2018.