Vietnam industry sector continues recovery with 5.5% growth in Oct

Vietnam’s industrial sector continued on its road to recovery as the index of industrial production (IIP) rose 5.5% in October from September, while the January-October index was up 0.5% year-on-year.

The January-October IIP was driven by a 0.5% increase in the manufacturing-processing sector, 2.6% in electricity production and distribution, and 5% in water supply and waste-wastewater treatment. However, the mining sector dropped 3.2%, according to the General Statistics Office.

On a year-on-year basis, Vietnam’s IIP recorded negative 11.3% in January but bounced back to 7% in February, partly due to the Lunar New Year, the most important and longest holiday in the country.

The index fell 2% in March and 2.4% in April, marking a slump. The index then started to recover at 0.5% in May, 1.7% in June, 2.3% in July, 3.5% in August, 2.9% in September, and 4.1% in October.

On a year-to-date basis, Vietnam’s IIP was below the 100% milestone in January-August at 99.6%, but hit 100.3% in January-September and 100.5% in January-October.

However, the 0.5% pace in the 10-month period was the worst in the last five years, following 9.5% in 2019 (pre-pandemic), 2.6% in 2020, 3.8% in 2021 (the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic), and 8.9% in 2022 (post-pandemic).

The sectors with the best growth in January-October were plastics and plastic products with 9.5%, tobacco with 9.1%, goods made from prefabricated metal (except for machines and equipment) with 8.7%, mining of metals with 6.3%, and food processing with 6.1%.

The poor performers were supporting services for ore mining with negative 12.6%, manufacturing of vehicles with engines (- 4.1%), manufacturing of other vehicles at (-7.3%), and crude oil and natural gas exploitation (- 4%).

Locality-wise, the best performer in January-October was the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh with 23.7%, followed by the northern provinces of Bac Giang with 18.2%, Phu Tho with 16.7%, and Nam Dinh with 14.2%; the central province of Khanh Hoa with 13.4%, and the southern province of Kien Giang with 13.1%.

The worst performers were the central province of Quang Nam with negative 28.8%, followed by the northern provinces of Son La (- 21.5%), Lai Chau (- 19.2%), Ha Giang (- 17.3%), and Bac Ninh (- 13%).