Stock market cap over 50% of GDP

By Minh Son December 31, 2023 | 11:14 pm PT

An investor looks at stock prices on a screen at a brokerage in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Vietnam’s stock market capitalization totaled $240 billion last year, equivalent to 56.4% of the country’s GDP.

The government aims to make Vietnam’s stock market equivalent to 100% of its GDP by 2025 and 120% by 2030.

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index went through a turbulent year in 2023.

It surged in the first month to surpass 1,100 points, but fell quickly over the next several weeks to 1,000 points.

The index was quiet until May when it entered the strongest growth phase of the year, shooting up 20% to the year’s peak of 1,245 points within three months, driven by securities companies, banks, retail firms and property developers.

In September, however, the VN-Index plummeted as investors sold quickly due to concerns of negative global impacts as the U.S. Federal Reserve repeatedly raised interest rates.

The index returned to 1,000 points within two months while daily trade value on the main bourse Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) plunged to VND10 trillion ($412 million).

VN-Index started to bounce back in the last two months to around 1,100 points and closed the year at 1,129 points, up 12% from the beginning of the year.

HoSE now has 394 stocks, 14 exchange traded funds, four closed fund certificates, and 229 covered warrants.
The value of the listed stocks rose 7% in value year-on-year to VND1.53 quadrillion.

There are now 7.2 million trading accounts and the government aims to bring the figure to 9 million by 2025 and 11 million by 2030.