Vietnam ranks first in Southeast Asia in terms of beer and wine consumption growth though its GDP just stands at number eight in the region, according to statistics by the Hanoi-based Health Strategy and Policy Institute. Vietnamese spend around US$3 billion a year on beer and VND16 trillion ($744.2 million) on wine produced in plants, Vu Thi Minh Hanh, deputy head of the institute, said at a conference on the prevention of the bad effects of beer and wine on Thursday.
The spending on wine was counted on the basis of the lowest price, Hanh noted, meaning that the real number may be higher.