GDP expands 9.95% in Q3

That was faster than the 8.15% and 8.81% growth posted for the first and second quarters, respectively, the National Statistics Office said during a press conference on Saturday morning.

Overall, the economy grew 9.01% year-on-year in the first nine months, with the two biggest sectors, industry-construction and services, accounting for 45% and 49.6% of the growth.

The industry-construction sector was up 11.21% as several large-scale projects began operations, exports recovered and public investment disbursement sped up.

The services sector jumped 8.69% on strong domestic demand for goods, services and tourism. The agriculture, forestry and seafood sector also expanded by 4.02%.

Investment continued to be a driver of the economy. Total realized investment at current prices reached about VND3.11 quadrillion (US$119.7 billion) in the three quarters, up 15.1% year-on-year, with the non-state sector accounting for 53% of the total.

Registered foreign direct investment, including newly registered, adjusted capital, capital contributions and share purchases, rose 76.4% to $50.36 billion. Realized FDI was up 12.1% to a five-year high of $21.07 billion.

Workers at a factory that manufactures washing machines and refrigerators in the southern province of Dong Nai. Photo by VnExpress/Bao Lam

Total import-export turnover topped $888 billion in the nine months, a 30.4% surge.

Imports increased by 36.7% to $453.72 billion while exports rose 24.5% to $434.3 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $19.42 billion as against a $16.87 billion surplus a year ago.

The consumer price index (CPI), which measures inflation, averaged 4.52% higher in the three quarters than a year earlier while core inflation rose 4.26%.

More than 223,900 businesses were newly established or resumed operations during the period, down 3.2% year-on-year.

Nearly 89,800 businesses temporarily suspended operations and 33,500 were awaiting dissolution. Over 48,700 firms completed dissolution, up 118.8%.

Vietnam is eyeing double-digit growth for the whole year. The Asian Development Bank, UOB, the International Monetary Fund and Standard Chartered had forecast Vietnam’s 2026 economic growth at between 7.5-9.5%.

Nguyen Thi Huong, the office’s director, said the third-quarter growth was much higher than previous years, but reaching double-digit growth for the full year remains a major challenge.

For the remainder of the year, the office recommended promoting growth while maintaining macroeconomic stability and keeping inflation in control.

Key priorities include accelerating public investment disbursement, removing production bottlenecks, helping domestic businesses strengthen their export capacity and stimulating consumer demand, it noted.

It also stressed the need to closely monitor conflicts in the Middle East, oil price movements, transportation costs and exchange rates.