SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION IN JANUARY 2016

Together with this, as of mid-January, provinces over the country cultivated 181.4 thousand hectares of maize, equaling 97.3% from the same period last year; 46.8 thousand hectares of sweet potato, equaling 89.7%; 28.4 thousand hectares of soybean, equaling 76.5%; 33.9 thousand hectares of peanut, equaling 106.4%; 324.2 thousand hectares of vegetables, equaling 102%.

As estimated, the country’s flock of buffaloes in January rose 0.1% from the similar period last year; flock of oxen went up by 1%-5%; flock of pigs by 2%-2.5%; flock of fowls by 3%-3.5%. Epidemic diseases in livestock and poutry still scattered in some localities.
   
+ Agricultural production as of 15 January 2016

b. Forestry

The concentrated planted forest area in January was estimated to reach 1312 hectares; the number of separate planted trees achieved 752 thousand trees, up 2.2% against the identical period last year; wood production gained 359 thousand m3, a rise of 8.5%; firewood production gained 1.6 million ster, 2.5% growth.

In the month, no forest fire occured. Deforestation still happened in some localities with damaged forest area of 14.3 hectares, down 65.8% from the same period in 2015.

c. Fishery

January’s fishing production was estimated to reach 428.5 thousand tons, up 3.9% compared to the same period last year, of which fish gained 314.2 thousand tons, up 3.9%; shrimp achieved 43 thousand tons, up 0.4%.

Estimated production of aquaculture in the month attained 191.5 thousand tons, increased by 2.1% from the same period last year. Of which fish reached 134 thousand tons, up 2.1%; shrimp gained 32.3 thousand tons, down 1% (yield of giant tiger prawn and whiteleg shrimp achieved 19.4 thousand tons, down 3.7 %.).

Estimated production of fishing caught in January gained 273 thousand tons, grew by 5.4% against the similar period last year (sea caught yield reached 224.2 thousand tons, rose 5.6%), of which fish attained 180.2 thousand tons, up 5.3%; shrimp achieved 10.7 thousand tons, up 4.9%.

2. Industry

Industrial Production Index (IPI) in January 2016 was estimated to increase by 5.9% from the same period last year. Consumption index for the whole manufacturing in December 2015 grew by 8.5% against the previous month and rose 11.9% from the same period last year. Generally, 2015’s consumption index for this industry went up by 12.4% over 2014. Stock index for the entire manufacturing as of 01 January 2016 went up by 9.2% from the same period in 2015.

The number of laborers working in industrial enterprises as of 01 January 2016 rose 5.8% compared to the same period last year, of which the State sector increased by 0.7%; the non-State sector by 3.1%, and the FDI sector by 8.7%.

+ Industrial Production Index
+ Main industrial products
+ Consumption and stock indexes of the manufacturing
+ Labor employed index (LEI) for industrial enterprises

3. Operation of enterprises [1]

In January 2016, the country had 8320 newly established enterprises with the registered capital of 59.3 trillion dongs, increased by 21.2% in the number of enterprises and by 87% in the registered capital from the same period in 2015[2]. The average registered capital per enterprise reached 7.1 billion dongs, up 54.3%. The total registered labor number of newly established enterprises in the month was 124 thousand persons, up 19.8%.

In the month, the country had 4872 re-operated enterprises, up 69.6% against the same period last year and this is the first month of the year with the largest number of re-operated enterprises in some recent years (2375 re-operated enterprises in January 2014; 2872 ones in January 2015).

The number of enterprises which finished the procedure for dissolving, terminating business activities in January 2016 was 1338 ones, increased by 34.7% from the same period last year, of which most of them are small-scale businesses with a registered capital of less than 10 billion dongs (accounting for 93.8%). By types of enterprise, of the total number of enterprises which finished the procedure for dissolving, terminating operations, there were 557 one-member limited companies (accounting for 41.6%); 381 two-member limited companies (accounting for 28.5%); 168 private businesses (accounting for 12.6%) and 232 joint-stock companies (representing 17.3%).

The number of enterprises having difficulty forced to temporarily cease operations was 12456 ones[3], an increase of 27.5% over the identical period last year, of which 5181enterprises registered for time-limited temporary cessation of operations and 7275 enterprises suspended businesses waiting for closing the enterprise code or without registration. Of total enterprises having difficulty forced to temporarily cease operations within the time-limit, there were 1805 one-member limited companies (accounting for 34.8%); 1860 two-member limited companies (accounting for 35.9%); 609 joint-stock companies (taking 11.8%) and 907 private businesses (representing 17.5%). For enterprises suspended business without registration or waiting for dissolving, there were 2953 one-member limited companies (accounting for 40.5%); 2253 two-member limited companies (accounting for 31%); 964 joint-stock companies (taking 13.3%) and 1105 private businesses (representing 15.2%).

4. Investment

Realized investment capital from the State budget in January reached an estimate of 15036 billion dongs, equaled 6.1% of the yearly plan and increased by 9.7% from 2015’s same period. Of which the capital under central management gained 3559 billion dongs, equaled 6.3% of the annual plan and increased by 12.6% from the same period last year; the capital under local management achieved 11477 billion dongs, equaled 6% of the yearly plan and grew by 8.8% over the similar period in 2015.

About the foreign direct investment (FDI), from the beginning of the year to 20 January 2016, the country had 127 newly licensed projects with the total registered capital of US$1011.4 million, up 188.6% in the number of projects and up 157.9% in the capital against the similar period in 2015. At the same time, 56 times of license-granted projects from the previous years were provided with additional capital of US$323.4 million. Thus, the total registered capital of both newly and additionally financed projects reached US$1334.8 million, grew by 101.2% against the last year’s same period. Realized FDI capital in January 2016 was estimated to gain US$800 million, rose 23.1% from 2015’s similar period.

FDI capital of newly licensed projects in the month focused mainly on the manufacturing industry with the registered capital of US$905.1 million, accounting 67.8% of the total registered capital; the art, games and entertainment gained US$210.6 million, representing 15.8%; remaining industries reached US$219.1 million, taking 16.4%.

The country had 24 provinces and cities directly under the central management which received newly licensed FDI projects from 22 nations and territories.

+ Realized investments under the State budget
+ Licensed FDI projects from 01 to 20 January 2016

5. Government revenues and expenditures

Total estimated government revenues in 15 beginning days of January 2016 achieved 35.5 trillion dongs, equaled 3.5% of the annual estimate, of which domestic revenues reached 27.3 trillion dongs, equaled 3.5%; collecting from crude oil achieved 1.8 trillion dongs, equaled 3.3%; from export-import balance: 6.3 trillion dongs, equaled 3.7%. Of home revenues, 6.5 trillion dongs were from State enterprises, equaling 2.5% of the yearly estimate; 5.3 trillion dongs were from FDI enterprises (excluding crude oil), equaling 3.3%; 6.5 trillion dongs were from non-state industrial, commercial and non-state service taxes, equaling 4.5%; 1.9 trillion dongs were from individual income tax, equaling 3%; 500 billion dongs were from tax on environment protection, equaling 1.3%; and 3.5trillion dongs were from land use fee, equaling 7%.

Total government expenditures for 15 beginning days of January reached an estimate of 46.9 trillion dongs, equaling 3.7% of the yearly estimate. Of which, spending for development investment achieved 7.5 trillion dongs, equaling 2.9%; spending for economic and social development, national defense and security, state management gained 33.3 trillion dongs, equaling 4%; paying debts and aids 6 trillion dongs, equaling 3.9%.

6. Trade, price and service

a. Retail sales of consumer goods and services

Total retail sales of consumer goods and services in January were estimated to reach 297.7 trillion dongs, increased by 3.5% from the previous month and by 11.7% against the same period in 2015 (if the price factor were excluded, the growth rate would be 11%).

By kinds of economic activity, retail sales of goods in January reached 226.6 trillion dongs, accounted for 76.1% of the total and grew by 4.1% against the previous month and by 12% from the similar period in 2015, of which garments increased by 6.2% and by 12.9%; grain food and foodstuff by 5.6% and by 11.5%; family appliances and tools by 5.1% and by 15.1%; means of transport by 4.3% and by 10.7%; culture, education by 1.5% and by 8.8% respectively.

Accommodation and catering services in the month was estimated to reach 35.1 trillion dongs, represented 11.8% of the total and grew by 2.6% against the previous month and by 10.5% from the same period last year. Other services gained 33.8 trillion dongs, accounted for 11.4%, up 1.6% and up 12.1% respectively. Only traveling service in January was estimated to achieve 2.2 trillion dongs, down 13.5% from the previous month, up 0.3% from the similar period last year.

+ Total retail sales of consumer goods and services

b. Exports - Imports

Export turnovers in January was estimated to reach US$ 13.8 billion, increased by 0.5% from the previous month, of which the domestic economic sector achieved US$ 4.1 billion, decreased by 8.7%; the FDI sector (including crude oil) gained US$ 9.7 billion, grew by 4.8%. Compared to the identical period last year, export turnovers in January 2016 went up by 2.2%, of which the domestic economic sector reached the same growth rate; the FDI sector (including crude oil) climbed by 3.2%.

About the export market, the United States was still the biggest export market of Vietnam in January with an estimated export turnover of US$ 3.1 billion, a rise of 17.3% compared to 2015’s same period. Followings were EU with US$ 2.7 billion, a rise of 1.8%; China with US$ 1.7 billion, an increase of 24.3%; ASEAN with US$ 1.5 billion, a decrease of 12.4%; Japan with US$ 1.3 billion, 11.5% increase; South Korea with US$ 750 million, a rise of 12.8%.

Import turnovers in January 2016 reached an estimate of US$ 14.0 billion, down 2.1% against the previous month, of which the domestic economic sector gained US$ 5.9 billion, 11.9% decrease; the FDI sector achieved US$ 8.1 billion, a rise of 6.4%. Compared to the same period last year, import turnovers in January 2016 dropped by 0.8%, of which the domestic economic sector went down by 0.1%; the FDI sector by 1.2%.

Regarding the import market in the month, China was Vietnam’s largest import market with estimated import turnover of US$ 4.4 billion, a rise of 0.4% compared to the identical period in 2015. The next were South Korea with US$ 2.2 billion, up 1.8%; ASEAN with US$ 2 billion, up 2.8%; Japan with US$ 1.2 billion, up 1.1%; EU with US$ 978.5 million, down 22.8%; the United States with US$ 620 million, up 4.6%.

Trade deficit in 2015 was US$ 3.5 billion, equivalent to 2.2% of export turnovers. In January 2016, trade deficit was estimated to be US$ 200 million, equivalent to 1.4% of export turnovers, of which the domestic economic sector had a trade deficit of US$ 1.8 billion; the FDI sector had a trade surplus of US$ 1.6 billion.

+ Exports
+ Imports

c. Consumer price indexes (CPI), gold and US dollar price indexes

CPI in January 2016 had no change from the previous month and rose 0.8% from the same period in 2015. Gold price index in January 2016 went down by 0.23% from the previous month; by 5.72% from the similar period in 2015. US dollar price index in January 2016 increased by 0.18% from the previous month and climbed by 5.28% from the identical period in 2015.

Core inflation in January 2016 increased by 0.27% compared to the previous month and by 1.72% over the same period last year.

+ Consumer price indexes, gold, US dollar price indexes and core inflation in January 2016

d. Carriage of passengers and cargos

Passenger carriage in January was estimated to reach 290.3 million passengers, raised by 7.1% and 12.6 billion passengers-kilometers, by 6.8% from the same period in 2015. Passengers carried by road achieved an estimate of 274.8 million passengers, a rise of 7.3% and 9.3 billion passengers-kilometers, a rise of 7.5% from the same period last year; by airway: 1.7 million passengers, an increase of 8% and 2.8 billion passengers-kilometers, an increase of 7.3%; by seaway: 474.3 thousand passengers, 4.9% increase and 22.5 million passengers-kilometers, 4.6% growth; only by railway: 0.8 million passengers, an increase of 2.8% and 0.3 billion passengers-kilometers, a drop of 16.6%;.Cargo carriage in January reached an estimate of 98.4 million tons, up 6.5% and 19.9 billion tons-kilometers, up 3.8% from the last year’ same period. Of which the domestic transport gained 95.7 million tons, increased by 6.6% and 8.9 billion tons-kilometers, by 7.4%; overseas transport reached 2.7 million tons, grew by 2.7% and 11 billion tons-kilometers, by 1%. Cargo transport by road obtained 77.5 million tons, up 7.2% and 4.8 billion tons-kilometers, up 8.2%; by waterway: 15.7 million tons, up 4.7% and 3.2 billion tons-kilometers, up 4.8%; by seaway: 4.7 million tons, up 3.6% and 11.5 billion tons-kilometers, up 1.6%; by railway: 0.5 million tons, a decline of 8.4% and 0.3 billion tons-kilometers, 11.5% rise.

+ Carriage of passengers and cargos

e. International visitors to Vietnam

International visitors to Vietnam in January 2016 was estimated to reach 805.1 thousand arrivals, up 5.8% from the previous month and up 12.3% from the same period last year, of which visitors coming by airway gained 659.4 thousand arrivals, up 14.2% and up 17.4%; by road: 133.3 thousand arrivals, down 21.5% and up 1%; by seaway: 12.4 thousand arrivals, down 9.5% and down 46.8% respectively.

In January, visitors to Vietnam from Asia achieved 525.7 thousand arrivals, increased by 12.8% against the similar period last year. Visitors from Europe gained an estimate of 154 thousand arrivals, went up by 11.9% from the last year’s identical period. Visitors from America reached 76.3 thousand arrivals, rose 15.4% from the same period last year.

+ International visitors to Vietnam

7. Social issues

a. Farmers’ food shortage

In January (as of 19 January 2016), the country had 5.3 thousand households suffering from food shortage, up 15.2% over the previous month, corresponding to 21.4 thousand persons suffering from food shortage, up 14.4%. Compared with the similar period in 2015, the number of households suffering from food shortage grew by 55.9% and the number of persons suffering from food shortage by 46.6%.

b. Epidemic diseases and food poisoning

In the month, the country had 5.3 thousand cases of hemorrhagic fever, 2.3 times as many as the same period in 2015; nearly 1.3 thousand cases of hand, foot, mouth disease, down 18%; 05 cases of virus encephalitis; and 637 persons poisoned, of which 01 case died.

In the month, 1.1 thousand HIV-infected cases were found, total number of alive HIV-infected persons over the country as of 15 January 2016 was 227.2 thousand persons, of which 84.5 thousand cases turned to AIDS. The number of persons died of AIDS over the country as of above time was 86.6 thousand persons.

c. Traffic accidents

From 16 December 2015 to 15 January 2016, the country had 1716 cases of traffic accidents, including 847 cases of traffic accidents and 869 cases of traffic crashing, killing 735 persons, injuring 520 persons and injuring slightly 1030 others. In comparison with the same period last year, cases of the traffic accidents decreased by 21% (cases of traffic accidents less serious and more reduced by 11%; cases of traffic collision by 28.7%); the death fell by 5.9%; injured persons by 10.8%; slightly injured persons by 29.6%. On average each day in the month, the country had 55 cases of traffic accident, including 27 cases of traffic accidents and 28 cases of traffic crashing, killing 24 persons and injuring 17 persons and injuring somewhat 33 others.

d. Environment protection, fire and explosion

In January, appropriate authorities found 1280 cases of violating regulations of environment protection, of which 713 cases were treated with total fine of 326.6 billion dongs.

In the month, the country had 242 cases of fire, killing 02 persons and injuring 10 others, total value of damage was estimated 53.3 billion dongs.

GENERAL STATISTICS OFFICE

[1]Source: National Business Registration System, Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

[2]Compared to the same period in 2014, the number of newly established enterprises in January 2015 increased by 0.01%; the registered capital decreased by 27.5%.

[3]The number of enterprises suspended production, business in January was large because enterprises often choose the beginning of fiscal year (01 January) to temporarily cease operations.