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At the press conference. (Photo: SGGP) |
In a press conference on the morning of March 30 about socio-economic statistics in the first quarter, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, General Director of the General Statistics Office (GSO), stated that Vietnam's GDP in the first quarter grew by only 3.32 percent. This is the second-lowest growth rate in the 2011-2023 period, which reflects the challenges faced by the world economy.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong also noted that international organizations have varying opinions about world economic growth in 2023, but they all agree on a lower growth forecast than 2022 by 0.5-1.2 percentage points. Recently, the World Bank and the United Nations made even more pessimistic forecasts for global economic growth in 2023, with the World Bank projecting a growth rate of only 1.7 percent, down 1.3 percentage points from its June 2022 forecast. The United Nations predicted a global economic growth rate of only 1.9 percent, down 1.2 percentage points from its June 2022 forecast.
"This demonstrates that the global economy is extremely challenging and will have an impact on Vietnam's economic growth rate," remarked Huong.
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The industry and construction sectors experienced a decline in production for some key industries due to high input costs and a slump in orders. As a result, the added value of industries slid by 0.82 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, which was the largest drop in the period from 2011 to 2023, reducing the total added value of the economy by 0.28 percentage points.
On the other hand, the service sector has demonstrated a clear recovery, thanks to effective domestic consumption stimulus policies and the reopening of the economy on March 15, 2022, after the Covid-19 pandemic was under control. There have also been promotional activities to boost Vietnam's tourism to various countries worldwide.
In the first quarter of this year, the Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) in 58 provinces and centrally-run cities increased compared to the same period in 2022, while five localities posted declines. Some localities saw a significant decrease in their GRDP, such as Ba Ria - Vung Tau, which dropped by 4.75 percent; Quang Nam, which decreased by 10.88 percent; and Bac Ninh, which declined by 11.85 percent.
