Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the first half of this year grew 3.72 percent year on year, its second lowest growth rate for the period since 2011, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The growth rate only beat out the 1.74 percent growth rate recorded in the first quarter in 2020, the GSO announced at a press conference on the country’s socio-economic performance for the second quarter and the first half of the year in Hanoi on Thursday morning.

Vietnam’s GDP expanded 4.14 percent year on year in the second quarter of this year alone.

The 3.72-percent GDP growth in the first half of 2023 was not high, but key economic indicators were balanced, the macro-economy was stable, and inflation was under control amid multiple difficulties and challenges locally and abroad, according to Nguyen Thi Huong, head of the GSO.

In the first half of the year, the service sector reported the highest growth rate, at 6.33 percent, fueled by domestic consumption stimulus policies and tourism promotion programs. It contributed 78.85 percent to the nation’s economic growth.

The agro-forestry-fishery sector saw a growth rate of 3.07 percent, while the industry-construction sector inched up a mere 1.13 percent. The two sectors contributed 9.28 and 11.87 percent, respectively, to the country’s GDP growth.

The consumer price index (CPI) in June edged up 0.27 percent month on month, sending the CPI in the first half of the year up by 3.29 percent over the first six months of last year.

As for trade, Vietnam exported US$164.45 billion worth of products and spent $152.2 billion on imports in the January-June period, falling 12.1 and 18.2 percent, respectively, year on year.

As a result, the country enjoyed a trade surplus of $12.25 billion in the period, a 10-fold increase over the year-ago period.

In the first half of the year, 75,900 businesses were established in Vietnam, edging down 0.5 percent over the same period last year.

Nearly 37,700 enterprises resumed their operations, down 7.4 percent.

Meanwhile, 60,200 businesses temporarily suspended their operations.

Some 31,000 others are conducting procedures for dissolution, while 8,800 companies completed dissolution procedures.

The first half of the year saw foreign investors pouring $13.4 billion into Vietnam, dropping 4.3 percent year on year, and disbursing $10.02 billion, up 0.5 percent.

The Southeast Asian country will continue facing many difficulties in the third quarter of the year. Therefore, it is a challenge to meet the economic growth target for this year, Huong noted.

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