Vietnam's GDP Surges 8.39% in Q2, H1 Growth Strong

Vietnam's GDP surged 8.39% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2025, pushing the first six months' growth to 8.18%, higher than the 7.63% recorded in the same period last year, according to data from the General Statistics Office released Friday. The industrial, construction, and services sectors continued to account for the largest share of the economy, serving as its primary growth drivers. Industrial production maintained solid growth as growth drivers strengthened, export orders recovered, and public investment generated positive spillover effects. Value added in the sector rose 9.86% in the first half from a year earlier, contributing 40.35% to the economy’s overall value-added growth. The services sector, including trade and transportation, posted robust growth as stronger consumer demand fueled goods circulation and travel. Value added in the sector increased 8.09% from the same period last year. Meanwhile, agriculture maintained steady growth as export markets for agricultural products continued to expand. Value added in the sector rose 3.57% year-on-year. In the first half of the year, Vietnam recorded a trade deficit of US$16.65 billion, reversing from a trade surplus of $7.95 billion in the same period last year. Total trade reached $549.7 billion, with exports and imports rising by 21% and 37% year-on-year, respectively. The U.S. remained Vietnam’s largest export market, with exports totaling $86.5 billion. China was the country’s largest source of imports, with import turnover reaching $115.2 billion during the six-month period. 169,800 enterprises were newly established or resumed operations in the first half of the year, averaging 28,300 per month. Meanwhile, around 151,100 businesses suspended operations or exited the market, equivalent to an average of 25,200 per month. A business sentiment survey of the manufacturing and processing sector for the second quarter found that 36.3% of enterprises were optimistic about business conditions. The proportion expecting business conditions to improve in the third quarter is projected to rise to 39.4%. The consumer price index (CPI), which measures inflation, averaged 5.25% higher in the second quarter than a year earlier. In the first six months of 2025, average CPI increased 4.38% year-on-year, while core inflation rose 4.12%. Vietnam's economic growth in the first half of the year was "positive" despite continued volatility in the global economic and political landscape, escalating armed conflicts, and persistent uncertainties, according to Nguyen Thi Huong, director general of the General Statistics Office. She said Vietnam's macroeconomic fundamentals remained stable, with inflation kept under control at an appropriate level while supplies of essential goods were ensured. Domestic consumption and tourism also posted solid growth. However, Huong warned that the economy is likely to face significant challenges in the second half of the year due to its high degree of openness, leaving it vulnerable to global economic and political developments. She recommended that authorities manage gasoline prices flexibly and avoid adjusting multiple state-controlled prices simultaneously to ease inflationary pressures. She also called on policymakers to accelerate the removal of administrative bottlenecks, speed up public investment disbursement, stimulate domestic consumption, and expand export markets.