Vietnam’s goods and services sector maintained impressive momentum during the first seven months of 2013 as total retail sales reached 1.488 trillion VND (70.9 billion USD), representing a year-on-year increase of 12 percent.
According to a General Statistics Office (GSO) report, the country’s total retail sales reached 213.3 trillion VND in July, up 0.4 percent against the actualised figure in June and surging 12.83 percent over the same period last year.
According to the GSO, the total retail sales in July increased due to a range of factors with stronger consumer demand one of the main drivers while the consumer price index (CPI) is estimated to rise as a result.
Meanwhile other economic sectors posted growth of between 10-37 percent year-on-year with the foreign-invested economic sector leading the charge, although it remains only a 3.3 percent contributor to the common indicator.
Trade activities posted strong results, leaping 11.4 percent, as did the hotel and restaurant sector with an increase of 14.7 percent to 179 trillion VND. Tourism, meanwhile, rose 2 percent to 14.3 trillion VND.