SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION IN 2019

I. ECONOMIC SITUATION

1. The gross domestic products (GDP) in 2019 witnessed an impressive result with a growth rate of 7.02%, exceeding the National Assemblys target of 6.6% - 6.8% (GDP increase rate was 6.82% in the first quarter, 6.73% in the second quarter, 7.48% in the third quarter[1], and 6.97% in the fourth quarter). This is the second consecutive year that Vietnams economic growth has reached over 7% since 2011.

In the general growth of the whole economy, the sector of agriculture, forestry and fishery increased by 2.01%, contributing 4.6% to the general growth; the sector of industry and construction grew by 8.90%, contributing 50.4%; the service sector expanded by 7.3%, contributing 45%. The main motivation for the economic growth this year was still the manuafacturing with the increase of 11.29% and the market services (transportation and storage jumped up by 9.12%; wholesale and retail trade went up by 8.82%; finance, banking and insurance moved up by 8.62%).

Regarding the economic structure in 2019, the sector of agriculture, forestry and fishery accounted for 13.96% of GDP; the industry and construction took 34.49%; the service 42.74%; the taxes less subsidies on production made up 9.91% (corresponding structure in 2018: 14.68%; 34.23%; 41.12%; 9.97%, respectively).

According to the GDP structure by expenditure category in 2019, final consumption jumped up by 7.23% year-on-year; accumulated assets increased by 7.91%; export of goods and services saw a growth of 6.71%; import of goods and services witnessed an 8.78% rise.

About the quality of economic growth in 2019, the contribution of the total-factor productivity (TFP) to GDP growth reached 46.11%; on average, it gained 44.46% in the period of 2016-2019, much higher than an average of 33.58% in the period 2011-2015. Labor productivity of the whole economy at current prices in 2019 was estimated at VND 110.4 million per labor (equivalent to US$ 4,791 per labor, an increase of US$ 272 compared to 2018); at constant prices, labor productivity recorded a rise of 6.2% due to a high increase in the additional labor force and the number of employed laborers in 2019. The investment efficiency was improved with many new production capacities added to the economy. Incremental capital-output ratio (ICOR coefficient) decreased from 6.42 in 2016 to 6.11 in 2017, 5.97 in 2018, and an estimate of 6.07 in 2019. The average ICOR for the 2011-2015 period reached 6.14, lower than the coefficient of 6.25 for the 2011-2015 period.
 
+ Gross Domestic Products at current prices
+ Gross Domestic Products at constant 2010 prices

2. Agriculture, forestry and fishery

a) Agriculture

The rice area in 2019 was estimated at 7.47 million hectares (ha), down 102.2 thousand ha year-on-year due to the conversion of production structure and land use; the rice productivity recorded an estimate of 5,820 kilograms per ha (kg/ha), equivalent to that in 2018, the rice output saw an estimate of 43.45 million tons, down 596.8 thousand tons.

For this year’s winter-spring crop, 3.12 million ha of rice were cultivated, an increase of 21.8 thousand ha compared to 2018; the rice productivity reached 6,550 kg/ha, a decrease of 90 kg/ha; the yield was recorded at 20.47 million tons, a drop of 133 thousand tons.

The cultivated area of summer-autumn rice over the country this year gained 2.01 million ha, down 43.4 thousand ha; its productivity of 5,450 kg/ha witnessed a fall of 10 kg/ha; its output achieved nearly 10.95 million tons, down 260.4 thousand tons, of which the Mekong Delta had the production of 8.68 million tons, down 116.6 thousand tons.

The cultivated area of autumn-winter rice reached 724.2 thousand ha, a reduction of 7.9 thousand ha; its productivity gained 5,450 kg/ha, a rise of 30 kg/ha; its output recorded 3.95 million tons, a decrease of 19.4 thousand tons.

The cultivated winter rice area over the country achieved 1.61 million ha, down 72.3 thousand ha; its productivity gained 5,020 kg/ha, up 110 kg/ha; its yield recorded 8.08 million tons, down 184.8 thousand tons.

Regarding the production of crops and annual plants: the output of maize reached 4.76 million tons, decreasing by 117.4 thousand tons compared to 2018 due to a drop of 42 thousand ha in the cultivated area; sweet potato gained 1.4 million tons, increasing by 27.2 thousand tons (its cultivated area went down by 1.3 thousand ha); sugar cane achieved 15.27 million tons, reducing by 2.7 million tons (its cultivated area moved down by 35.7 thousand ha); cassava recorded 10.11 million tons, seeing a rise of 259 thousand tons (its cultivated area expanded by 6.5 thousand ha); peanut obtained 438.8 thousand tons, dropping by 18.5 thousand tons (its cultivated area witnessed a reduction of 8.9 thousand ha); soya bean attained 75.9 thousand tons, falling by 4.9 thousand tons (its cultivated area saw a decline of 3.8 thousand ha); vegetables of all kinds reached 17.95 million tons, jumping up by 855.3 thousand tons (their cultivated area increased by 26.1 thousand ha); beans of all kinds recorded 161.9 thousand tons, going up by 3.5 thousand tons (their cultivated area dropped by 5.3 thousand ha).

The cultivated area of perennial industrial crops in 2019 was estimated at 2,192.4 thousand ha, decreasing by 0.95 year-on-year, of which the rubber area reached 946.2 thousand ha, down 1.6%, its output for the whole year gained 1,173.1 thousand tons, up 3.1%; the pepper area gained 137.7 thousand ha, down 6.6%, its output achieved 263.5 thousand tons, up 0.3%; the coffee area was 688.3 thousand ha, up 1.1%, its yield reached 1,657 thousand tons, up 2.5%; the cashew area was 297.2 thousand ha, up 0.8%, its production attained 286.3 thousand tons, up 7.5%; the tea area recored 123 thousand ha, equivalent to its area in 2018, the bud tea production gained 1,019.9 thousand tons, up 2.6%. The fruit trees recorded a fairly good output, mainly in citrus fruits, mango and dragon fruit due to their stable consumption market. Orange reached 960.9 thousand tons, increasing by 12.4% over the previous year; pomelo attained 779.3 thousand tons, moving up by 18.2%; mango gained 814.8 thousand tons, growing by 2.9%; dragon fruit obtained 1,242.5 thousand tons, going up by 15%. Only longan and litchi saw a reduction in the output year-on-year but an increase in their selling prices because of being planted according to VietGAP, GlobalGAP standards in order to raise their value and ecomomic efficiency, of which litchi output reached 272 thousand tons, down 30.1%; longan reached 507.9 thousand tons, down 6.6%.

As of December 2019, the whole country’s buffalo population reduced by 3.1% compared to the same period last year; cattle population increased by 2.4%; pig population saw a 3.2% decline; poultry population witnessed a rise of 14.2%. Output of buffalo meat reached 95.1 thousand tons, a growth of 3.2% year-on-year; production of beef recorded 349.2 thousand tons, a rise of 4.4%; production of pork reached 3,289.7 thousand tons, a drop of 13.8%; production of poultry gained 1,278.6 thousand tons, an increase of 16.5%; poultry egg achieved 13.3 billion eggs, a rise of 14%. The output of cow’s milk reached 1,029.6thousand tons, up 10%.

b) Forestry

In 2019, the whole country’s concentrated planted forest area was estimated at 273.6 thousand ha, a decline of 4.5% against 2018 (it was 95.9 thousand ha in the fourth quarter of 2019, down 4%); the number of separate planted trees in the whole year gained 81.1 million trees, a decrease of 1.8% (it was 20.4 million trees in the fourth quarter of 2019, up 1%); wood production achieved 16.1 million m3, a rise of 5.4% (it was 4,594 thousand m3 in the fourth quarter of 2019, up 6.3%); firewood production gained 19.5 million steres, a decline of 1% (it was 5.5 million steres, equivalent to that in the same period last year). Damaged forest area was 3,312.6 ha, 2.9 times that in 2018, of which the burnt forest area was 2,716.5 ha, 4.7 times that in 2018; the destroyed forest area was 596.1 ha, a rise of 6.6%

c) Fishery

Fishing production in 2019 was estimated at 8,200.8 thousand tons, up 5.6% over the previous year (it gained 2,231.4 thousand tons in the fourth quarter, up 5.8%), of which fish achieved 5,925.3 thousand tons, up 5.2%; shrimp reached 1,034.8 thousand tons, up 6.8%; other aquatic products recorded 1,240.7 thousand tons, up 6%.

The output of aquaculture gained 4,432.5 thousand tons, a rise of 6.5% from 2018 (it was 1,315.5 thousand tons in the fourth quarter, up 7%), of which fish reached 3,080.4 thousand tons, increasing by 5.8%; shrimp gained 877.2 thousand tons, climbing by 8.4%.

Production of fishery caught in 2019 achieved an estimate of 3,768.3 thousand tons, increasing by 4.5% compared with that in the same period last year (it reached 915.9 thousand tons in the fourth quarter, a rise of 4.2%), of which fish gained 2,844.9 thousand tons, expanding by 4.6%; shrimp recorded 157.6 thousand tons, decreasing by 1%.

+ Agricultural production as of December 15, 2019
+ Cultivated area, productivity and yield of main crops
+ Cultivated area, productivity and yield of selected annual industrial plants
+ Cultivated area, productivity and yield of selected perennial industrial plants
+ Main products of animal husbandry
+ Outcome of forestry production
+ Fishing production

3. Industry and construction

2019 witnessed an 8.90% growth of the industry and construction compared to the previous year, of which the industry jumped up by 8.86% thanks to the manufacturing industry (with a rise of 11.29%) playing a key role in leading the general growth of the whole industry and the entire economy; the electricity generation and contribution increased by 9.14%; the water supply and waste treatment went up by 7.72%; the mining and quarrying reached a 1.29% rise after three consecutive years of reduction due to the coal mining’s  high increase  compensating for the drop in crude oil exploitation.

Generally for the whole year 2019, consumption index of the whole manufacturing recorded an increase of 9.5% compared with the last year (2018 saw a 12.4% growth). Inventory index of the entire manufacturing as of December 31, 2019 grew by 13.6% over the similar period last year (it went up by 14.1% in the same period in 2018). Average inventory rate of the whole manufacturing in 2019 gained 68.8%[2] (it was 64.4% in 2018).

+ Industrial Production Index in December and the whole year 2019
+ Industrial Production Index in quarters of 2019
+ Main industrial products in December and the whole year 2019
+ Main industrial products in quarters of 2019
+ Consumption and stock indexes of the manufacturing
+ Labor employed index (LEI) for industrial enterprises
+ Labor employed index (LEI) for industrial enterprises by province

4. Enterprises

a) Business registration situation[3]

Generally for 2019, there were 138.1 thousand enterprises registered for new establishment with the total registered capital of VND 1,730.2 trillion and the registered labor of 1,254.4 thousand persons, reflecting a rise of 5.2% in the number of enterprises, 17.1% in the amount of registered capital and 13.3% in the registered labor year-on-year. The average registered capital per new enterprise was VND 12.5 billion, up 11.2% against the same period last year. The total registered capital added to the economy in 2019 was VND 4,003.2 trillion, including VND 2,273 trillion of the additional capital of 40.1 thousand enterprises increasing capital. In addition, there were 39.4 thousand enterprises resumed operation, increasing 15.9% over 2018, bringing the total number of newly registered enterprises and re-operated enterprises in 2019 to 177.5 thousand ones. On average, each month recorded nearly 14.8 thousand newly registered enterprises and re-operated enterprises.

The number of temporarily ceased enterprises with a certain time in 2019 was 28.7 thousand ones, a rise of 5.9% against the previous year; 43.7 thousand  enterprises has suspended operation waiting for dissolution procedures, increasing by 41.7%, of which 17.7 thousand enterprises have their business registration certificates revoked under the 2018 data standardization program; the number of enterprises which completed dissolution procedures was 16.8 thousand enterprises, up 3.2%.

b) Business trends of enterprises

Survey results on business trends of enterprises in the manufacturing industry in the fourth quarter of 2019 showed that: 46.7% of enterprises rated their business performance in the fourth quarter of this year better than the previous quarter; 17% of enterprises pointed to difficulties and 36.3% of enterprises said that their business and production situation was stable[4]. Expected in the first quarter of 2020 in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2019, 48.1% of enterprises rated the trend would be better; 15.1% of enterprises forecasted more difficulties and 36.8% of businesses thought that the business and production situation would be stable.

+ Some indicators on enterprises
+ Newly established enterprises
+ Number of re-operated enterprises
+ Number of enterprises suspending for a definite time
+ Number of enterprises completed dissolution procedures

5. Trade and service activities

Total estimated retail sales of consumer goods and services recorded in 2019 reached VND 4,940.4 trillion, a rise of 11.8% compared to the similar period last year, if excluding the price factor, the growth rate was 9.2% (its increase rate in 2018 was 8.4%), of which it was estimated at VND 1,287.5 trillion in the fourth quarter, expanding by 2.8% from the previous quarter and by 12.5% over the same period last year. By kinds of economic activity, retail sales of goods in 2019 reached an estimate of VND 3,751.3 trillion, accounting for 75.9% of the total and increasing by 12.7% over the last year; Sales of accommodation and catering services achieved VND 586.7 trillion, accounting for 11.9% of the total and moving up by 9.8%; Estimated sales of travelling achieved VND 46 trillion, representing 0.9% of the total and climbing by 12.1%; Estimated sales of other services gained VND 556.4 trillion, taking 11.3% of the total and expanding by 8.5%.

Generally for the whole year 2019, passenger carriage reached an estimate of 5,143.1 million passengers, an increase of 11.2% over 2018 and 248.5 billion passengers-km, a rise of 10.9% (it gained 1,342.4 million passengers, up 13.6% from the same period last year and 71.2 billion passengers-km, up 12.9%). Freight achieved 1,684.1 million tons, expanding by 9.7% against the previous year and 322.2 billion tons-km, increasing by 7.8% (it recorded 435.2 million tons, up 11% from the identical period last year and 83.6 billion tons-km, up 8.5%).

Turnover of telecommunications in 2019 was estimated to reach 383.3 trillion dongs, an increase of 7.8% from 2018 (if excluding the price factor, it increased by 7.2%). As of the end of 2019, the total number of telephone subscribers was estimated to achieve 133.1 million subscribers, a rise of 1.2% over the similar period last year, of which mobile phone subscribers reached 129.5 million ones, falling by 0.7% and fixed-line telephone subscribers recorded 3.6 million ones, dropping by 15.25. The main reasons for this are due to the network operators’ handling of “trash” SIMs, management of mobile phone subscribers in accordance with the regulation of the Ministry of Information and Communications, and the decreasing demand for landline telephones. The number of fixed broadband Internet subscribers recorded 14.8 million ones, an increase of 13.9% compared to the similar period in 2018.

2019 is the second consecutive year Vietnam has been named “Asia’s leading destination” choosen by the 2019 World Travel Awards (WTA). In 2019, international visitors to Vietnam reached an estimate of 18,008.6 thousand arrivals, a rise of 16.2% compared to the previous year, of which visitors coming by airway recorded 14,377.5 thousand arrivals, accounting for 79.8% of the number of arrivals, increasing by 15.2%; visitors coming by road achieved 3,367 thousand arrivals, taking 18.7%, moving up by 20.4%; visitors coming by seaway gained 264.1 thousand arrivals, making up 1.5%, climbing by 22.7%. Visitors from Asia saw a 19.1% increase with 14,386.3 thousand arrivals, holding 79.9% of international visitors; Visitors from the Europe recorded168.2 thousand arrivals, going up by 6.4%; Visitors from the America witnessed a growth of 7.7% with 973.8 thousand arrivals; Visitors from the Australia recorded 432.4 thousand arrivals, reducing by 1.2%; Visitors from the Africa achieved 48 thousand arrivals, growing by 12.2%.

+ Total retail sales of consumer goods and services in December and 2019
+ Total retail sales of consumer goods and services in quarters of 2019
+ Carriage of passengers and cargos in Deccember and 2019
+ Carriage of passengers and cargos in quarters of 2019
+ International visitors to Vietnam in December and 2019
+ International visitors to Vietnam in quarters of 2019

6. Banking, insurance and stock market

As of December 20, 2019, total payment means increased by 12.1% over the end of 2018 (it grew by 11.3% in the same period in 2018); capital mobilization of credit organizations witnessed a rise of 12.5% (its growth rate for the same period in 2018 was 11.5%); credit growth of the economy hit 12.1% (it was 13.3% in the corresponding period in 2018).

Insurance business in the fourth quarter of 2019 continued to record a high growth with an estimated rate of 20% compared to the same period last year. Generally for 2019, insurance revenues for the whole market reached an increase of 20.3% over 2018, of which life insurance premium revenues went up by 25.1%; non-life insurance premium revenues grew by 11.6%.

The stock market in 2019 made a lot of contributions to capital mobilization for the economy with a total mobilized capital of VND 313.9 trillion, up 12.6% year-on-year. In the stock market, as of December 24, 2019, the VNIndex reached 958.88 points, up 7.4% compared to the end of 2018; market capitalization (as of December 17, 2019) gained VND 4.4 trillion, up 10.3%; The average transaction value from the beginning of 2019 till now achieved VND 4,651 billion per session, down 29% compared to the average in 2018. In the bond market, there were 509 listed bond codes with a listing value of VND 1,162 trillion, up 3.7% compared to the end of 2018. In the derivatives market, the average trading volume from the beginning of the year up to now recorded 89,266 contracts per session, up 13% compared to the average for 2018.

7. Realized social investment capital

Realized social investment capital at current prices in 2019 increased by 10.2% over the previous year and equalled 33.9% of GDP (it gained VND 669.8 trillion in the fourth quarter, up 10.4%), of which the non-State sector’s capital reached VND 942.5 trillion, holding the largest proportion of total investment capital (46%) and recording the highest growth rate of 17.3% against the previous year; the State sector’s capital achieved VND 634.9 trillion, accounting for 31%, increasing by 2.6%; the FDI sector’s capital gained VND 469.4 trillion, representing 23, moving up by 7.9%. Only investment capital from the State budget has not been much improved, witnessing the lowest increase in the 2016-2019 period[5].

The total foreign investment in Vietnam as of December 20, 2019, including the newly registered, adjusted capital, contributed capital and shares purchased by foreign investors, reached nearly US$ 38 billion, up 7.2% compared to 2018. In particular, there were 3,883 newly licensed projects with a total registered capital of US$ 16.7 billion, an increase of 27.5% in the number of projects and a decrease of 6.8% in the amount of registered capital year-on-year. In addition, there were 1,381 turns of license-granted projects from previous years registered to adjust investment capital with additional capital of US$ 5.8 billion, decreasing by 23.6%; 9,842 turns of capital contribution and share purchase of foreign investors with the total contributed capital of US$ 15.5 billion, climbing by 56.4%. Of turns of capital contribution and share purchase of foreign investors, there were 2,136 turns of capital contribution, share purchase increased the charter capital of enterprises with the contributed capital of US$ 9.2 billion, and 7,706 turns of foreign investors bought domestic shares back without increasing charter capital with contributed capital of US$ 6.3 billion. The realized foreign direct investment capital in 2019 was estimated at US$ 20.4 billion, up 6.7% over the similar period last year.

+ Realized investment capital under the State budget in 2019
+ Realized investment capital under the State budget in quarters of 2019
+ Realized social investment capital at current prices
+ Licensed FDI projects from January 01 to December 20, 2019

8. Government revenues and expenditures

Total estimated government revenues from the beginning of the year to December 15, 2019 achieved VND 1,414.3 trillion, equalling 100.2% of the annual estimate, of which domestic revenues recorded VND 1,146.2 trillion, equalling 97.7%; collecting from crude oil gained VND 53.3 trillion, equalling 119.5%; from export-import balance obtained VND 210.5 trillion, equalling 111.1%.

Total government expenditures from the beginning of the year to December 15, 2019 was estimated at VND 1,316.4 trillion, equalling 80.6% of the yearly estimate, of which regular expenditures were VND 927.9 trillion, equalling 92.8%; expenditure on development investment achieved VND 246.7 trillion, equalling 57.5%; VND 99.3 trillion were spent on interest payment, equalling 79.5%.

9. Exports and imports

a) Merchandize exports and imports

Total export and import turnover of goods in 2019 were estimated at US$ 516.96 billion, export turnover of goods gained US$ 263.45 billion, a rise of 8.1% over the previous year, of which the domestic economic sector saw a high growth rate of 17.7%, higher than the growth rate of FDI sector (4.2%). The trade balance of goods in 2019 was estimated at trade surplus of US$ 9.9 billion.

Exports of goods:

Export turnover of goods in December 2019 was estimated to reach US$ 21.8 billion, down 4.4% compared to the previous month. In the fourth quarter of 2019, merchandize export turnover gained US$ 68.8 billion, an increase of 7.2% over the same period in 2018 and a decline of 4.6% from the third quarter of this year. In the fourth quarter, there were 9 items with export value of more than US$ 1 billion, accounting for 72.4% of total export turnover. Generally for the whole year 2019, export turnover of goods was estimated at US$ 263.45 billion, a rise of 8.1% over 2018, of which the domestic economic sector achieved US$ 82.10 billion, moving up by 17.7%, accounting for 31.2% of the total export turnover; the FDI sector (including crude oil) gained US$ 181.35 billion, increasing by 4.2%, accounting for 68.8% (this proportion reduced by 2.5 percentage points year-on-year). In 2019, there were 32 items with export turnover of more than US$ 1 billion, accounting for 92.9% of the total export turnover (6 items reached export turnover of over US$ 10 billion, taking 63.4%)..

Import of goods:

Import turnover of exports in December 2019 was estimated at US$ 22.8 billion, an increase of 6.8% compared to the previous month. In the fourth quarter of 2019, import turnover achieved US$ 66 billion, a rise of 3.4% over the similar period in 2018 and a slight decline of 0.8% from the third quarter of this year. Generally for 2019, import turnover of goods was estimated to reach US$ 253.51 billion, a growth of 7% over 2018, of which the domestic economic sector gained US$ 108.01 billion, up 13.8%; the FDI sector achieved US$ 145.50 billion, up 2.5%; there were 37 import items with turnover of more than US$ 1 billion in 2019, representing up to 90.6% of the total import turnover (4 items reached over US$ 10 billion, accounting for 45.8%).

The trade balance of goods in November witnessed trade surplus of US$ 1.5 billion[6]; 11 months of 2019 saw trade surplus of US$ 10.9 billion; December recorded an estimated surplus of US$ 1 billion. It was estimated to have trade surplus US$ 9.9 billion in 2019[7], of which the domestic economic sector had trade deficit of US$ 25.9 billion while the FDI sector (including crude oil) witnessed trade surplus of US$ 35.8 billion.

b) Export and import of services:

In 2019, service export turnover were estimated at US$ 16.6 billion, up 12.6% compared to that in 2018, of which travel service gained US$ 11.8 billion (accounting for 71.1% of the total turnover), a rise of 17.4%; transportation service achieved US$ 2.9 billion (accounting for 17.7%), increasing by 2.2%. Estimated service import turnover this year reached US$ 19.1 billion, putting up by 2.9% over the identical period last year, of which transportation service gained US$ 9.1 billion (accounting for 47.6% of the total turnover), increasing by 3.2%; travel service attained US$ 6.2 billion (making up 32.2%), increasing by 4.1%. Trade deficit of services in 2019 was US$ 2.5 billion, equalling 14.9% of the service export turnover.

+ Exports in December and 2019
+ Exports in quarters of 2019
+ Imports in December and 2019
+ Imports in quarters of 2019
+ Exports and imports of services in quarters of 2019

10. Price indexes

a) Inflation was curbed at a low level, the average consumer price index (CPI) for 2019 increased by only 2.79%, this is the lowest increase in the past 3 years.

CPI in December 2019 witnessed a growth of 1.4% compared to the previous month – the highest growth rate for December in the last nine years[8], of which food and catering services hit the highest increase of 3.42% due to African swine fever leading the decrease in the supply of pork, the increase in the prices of processed pork products and products substituting for pork. Generally for the fourth quarter of 2019, CPI grew by 2.01% from the previous quarter and by 3.66% over the fourth quarter of 2018. The average CPI for 2019 went up by 2.79% compared to that for 2018, below the goal set by the National Assembly, which is also the lowest annual average increase in the past 3 years[9].

b) Gold price index and US dollar index

Domestic gold prices fluctuated according to world gold prices. Gold price index in December 2019 decreased by 0.36% against the previous month, climbed by 16.23% from December 2018, and average gold price index in 2019 grew by 7.55% over 2018. The US dollar price index in December 2019 fell by 0.19% over the previous month, by 0.77% against December 2018; average US dollar price index in 2019 expanded by 0.99% compared to that in 2018.

c) Producer price indexes (PPI) and export-import price indexes

PPI for agriculture, forestry and fishery in the fourth quarter of 2019 increased by 3.91% against the previous quarter and  by 1.89% against the same period last year; similarly, PPI for industry dropped  by 0.07% and went up by 0.52%; PPI for services moved up by 0.31% and by 2.8%. Generally for the whole year 2019, PPI for agriculture, forestry and fishery witnessed a rise of 1.31% compared to that in 2018, PPI for industry gained an 1.25% increase, PPI for services grew by 2.94%.

In the fourth quarter of this year, merchandize export price index moved up by 0.28% from the previous quarter and by 3.98% over the same period last year; similarly, merchandize import price index moved down by 0.09% and climbed by 0.05% against the similar period last year; merchandize term of trade[10] increased by 0.36% and by 3.93%. Generally for the whole year 2019, merchandize export price index saw a rise of 3.01% from 2018, merchandize import price index recorded a 0.59% growt, merchandize term of trade jumped up by 2.41%.

+ Consumer price indexes, gold, US dollar price indexes and core inflation in December 2019
+ Producer Price Indexes
+ Price index of materials, fuels used for production
+ Transport and Warehouse Charge Index
+ Merchandize export price index
+ Merchandize import price index
+ Commodity term of trade

II. SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Population

Vietnam’s average population in 2019[11] was estimated at 96.48 million people, of which urban population accounted for 34.7%; rural population took 65.3%; male population made up 49.8%; female population represented 50.2%.

Labor force aged 15 years and above in 2019 was 55.8 million persons, an increase of 417.1 thousand persons year-on-year; labor force within working age was 49.1 million persons, a growth of 527.7 thousand persons. The employed labor force aged 15 years and above in 2019 was 54.7 million persons, including 19 million ones working in the sector of agriculture, forestry and fishery, accounting for 34.7% of the total (reducing 3 percentage points year-on-year); 16.1 million ones working in the sector of industry and construction, making up 29.4% (increasing 2.7 percentage points); 19.6 million ones working in the service sector, representing 35.9% (increasing 0.3 percentage point).

The whole country’s general unemployment rate in 2019 was 1.98% (it was 2.00% in the first quarter; 1.98% in the second quarter; 1.99% in the third quarter; 1.98% in the fourth quarter), of which it was 2.93% for urban areas; 1.51% for rural areas.

The underemployment rate of working-age laborers this year was estimated at 1.26% (it was 1.21% in the first quarter; 1.38% in the second and the third quarter; an estimate of 1.07% in the fourth quarter), of which it was 0.67% for urban areas; 1.57% for rural areas.

+ Selected indicators on population
+ Selected indicators on labours
+ Unemployment and underemployment rate of laborers

2. People’s life and social security in 2019 continued to be improved, especially in the rural areas.

Estimated average monthly income per capita in 2019 at current prices was about VND 4.2, higher than the income of VND 3.9 million in 2018. In 2019, the whole country recorded 68.5 thousand households suffering from food shortage, a decrease of 34.7% from the previous year, corresponding to 278 thousand persons suffering from this problem, a decline of 33.8%.

As of the end of December 2019, the whole country had 4,806 communes (reaching 53.92%) and 111 districts recognized as meeting the new-style rural area standards, exceeding by 3.92% compared to the target for the period 2010-2020.

According to the preliminary report, the total value of gifts given to policy beneficiary objects, people with merit, social protection beneficiaries in 2019 was over 5.5 trillion dongs, of which 3.4 trillion dongs were used to pay a compliment and support policy beneficiary objects; 1.3 trillion dongs were used to support poor households; and nearly 0.8 trillion dongs were used for food aid and other social relief. In addition, nearly 24 million free health insurance cards and health care books/cards were donated to the policy beneficiaries throughout the country.

3. Education and training

In the school year 2019-2020, the country had 5 million preschool children (0.7 million nursery school children and 4.3 million kindergarten children), 17 million pupils of general education (8.7 million primary school pupils, 5.7 million lower secondary school pupils and 2.6 million pupils in upper secondary schools), and 1.5 million students in universities, colleges and intermediate schools[12].

Currently, the whole country had 1,913 vocational training establishments[13], including 402 colleges, 472 intermediate schools, 1,039 continuing education centers. Vocational training in 2019 enrolled 2,338 thousand new students, of which 568 thousand students were enrolled for college and intermediate level; 1,770 thousand students were enrolled for elementary level and other vocational training programmes, including 800 thousand rural workers being supported with vocational training. In 2019, there were 2,195 thousand students graduated from vocaltional training classes, of which 495 thousand ones was at college and intermediate level, 1,700 ones was at elementary level and other vocational training programmes.

4. Epidemic diseases

Generally for eleven months of 2019, the whole country had 320.7 thousand cases of of hemorrhagic fever, 2.5 times the number of cases in 2018 (53 cases died); 103.9 thousand cases of hand, foot, mouth disease (1 case died);  578 cases of virus encephalitis (14 cases died); 27 cases of meningococcal disease (1 case died); 41.8 thousand cases of scarlet fever suspected for measles, of which 8.2 thousand cases were infected with positive measles (3 cases died); 409.8 thousand cases of influenza (10 deaths).

Total number of alive HIV-infected persons over the country as of December 18, 2019 was 210.1 thousand persons and 97 thousand cases turned to AIDS. The number of persons died of HIV/AIDS as of above time-point was 98.51 thousand persons.

There were 65 cases of food poisoning occured throughout the country in 2019 making 1,765 persons poinsoned (9 cases died), of which 9 cases died.

5. Cultural and sport activities

In 2019, Vietnam Sports won 1,483 medals in international tournaments, including 587 gold medals, 428 silver medals, 468 bronze medals. At the 30th SEA Games, Vietnam Sports Delegation won 98 gold medals, 85 silver medals and 105 bronze medals, ranked 2nd among the 11 participating countries. Especially, Vietnam won the championship in mens football at SEA Games for the first time in the history and also in women’s football at this sport event for the 6th time.

6. Traffic accidents

In 2019, 17,626 traffic accidents occurred nationwide, including 9,229 cases of traffic accidents from less serious to become and 8,397 cases of traffic collisions, causing 7,624 deaths, 13,624 injuries and 8,528 minor injuries. Compared to the previous year, the number of traffic accidents in 2019 declined by 5.1% (number of traffic accidents of differently serious levels reduced by 4%; number of traffic collisions decreased by 6.1%); number of death fell by 7.1%; number of injuries went down by 6.4% and number of minor injuries dropped by 8.2%. Of 9,229 traffic accidents of differently serious levels, 9,021 cases occurred on the road, causing 7,458 deaths and 5,054 injuries. On average, there were 48 traffic accidents occurred nationwide each day in 2019, including 25 traffic accidents from less serious to become and 23 traffic collisions, causing 21 deaths, 37 injuries and 23 minor injuries.

7. Natural calamity, environmental pollution, fire and explosion

Natural calamity in 2019 made 132 persons died and lost, 207 persons injured[14], over 98.1 thousand ha of rice and crops damaged, down 37.7%; 1.7 thousand houses collapsed and swept away, down 13.6% and over 68.5 thousand houses damaged, down 42.5%. The total damage caused by natural disasters in 2019 was estimated at VND 6.2 trillion, down 60.6% year-on-year.

In 2019, the whole country found 12,399 cases of violating regulations of environmental protection, of which 11,236 cases were treated with total fine of over 134 billion dongs.

There were 3,755 fire and explosion cases over the country in 2019, causing 112 deaths and 177 injuries, with an estimated damage of about VND 1.4 trillion.

+ Some key social and environmental indicators

GENERAL STATISTICS OFFICE

[1] Estimated figures at the end of September 2019: GDP saw a growth of7.31% in the third quarter of 2019 and 6.98% in nine months. Preliminary figures by the end of 2019: GDP growth reached 7.48% in the third quarter; generally for 9 months, it was 7.04%. GDP growth rate in the third quarter was 0.17 percentage points higher than the estimate at the end of September 2019 because some industries’ achieved results were higher than estimate such as the agriculture, forestry and fishery increased by 0.47 percentage point; the industry grew by 0.14 percentage point; the transportation and warehousing expanded by 1.31 percentage points; the accommodation and catering services moved up by 0.78 percentage point. In addition, some industries saw lower results than estimated: the information and communication decreased by 0.15 percentage point; education and training dropped by 0.07 percentage point.

[2] Safe inventory rate is about 65%.

[3] Source: National Business Registration Information System, Agency for Business Registration, Ministry of Planning and Investment.

[4] Corresponding rates for the third quarter of 2019 were as follows: 43.3% ofenterprises rated their business performance year better than the previous quarter; 18.3% of enterprises pointed to difficulties and 38.4% of enterprises said that their business and production situation was stable.                                                                                            

[5] The growth rate of the investment capital under the State budget year-on-year for some years was as follows: 16.1% in 2016; 6.6% in 2017; 12.2% in 2018; 5.8% in 2019.

[6] November witnessed estimated trade deficit of USD 100 million.

[7] Of which trade surplus with EU in 2019 gained US$ 26.9 billion, a decline of 4.3% compared to the same period last year; trade deficit with China was US$ 33.8  billion, a 40.1% growth; trade deficit with South Korea was US$ 27.5 billion, a decrease of 6.1%; trade deficit with ASEAN was US$ 6.8 billion, a fall of 3.2%.

[8] The CPI growth/decrease rate of in December compared to the previous month in the period 2011-2019 was an increase of 0.53%, a rise of 0.27%, a growth of 0.51%, a drop of 0.24%, an increase of 0.02%, a growth of 0.23%, a rise of 0.21%, a reduction of 0.25%, and an increase of 1.4% respectively.

[9] Annual average CPI increase rate in 2017, 2018 and 2019 compared to the previous year was a rise of 3.53%, a growth of 3.54% and an increase of 2.79% respectively.

[10] The ratio of the export price index to the corresponding import price index.

[11] According to results of the 2019 Population and Housing Census, Vietnam’s population at 0:00 a.m. on April 1, 2019 is 96.2 million people.

[12]  Only including students in colleges and intermediate schools of education.

[13] Excluding vocational training establishments under universities; and vocational training establishments  of enterprises registering primary vocational training.

[14] In 2018, natural calamity made 218 persons died, lost and 157 persons injured.


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