SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION IN THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF 2020

1. Agriculture, forestry and fishery

a) Agriculture

As of 15 July, 1,804.7 thousand hectares (ha) of winter rice were cultivated, equaling 95.8% of the cultivated winter rice area in the same period last year. As of mid-July, the whole country cultivated 1,932.7 thousand ha of summer-autumn rice, equaling 96.3% of the cultivated summer-autumn rice area in the similar period last year. Up to the present, early summer-autumn rice was harvested with the area of 505.3 thousand ha, equaling 90.3% of harvested summer-autumn rice area in the identical period last year. As of 15 July, the Mekong Delta sowed 215.6 thousand ha of autumn-winter rice, equaling 102.2% of the recorded figure in the corresponding period last year.

As of mid-July, localities over the country cultivated 764.9 thousand ha of maize, equaling 97.1% of the recorded figure in the same period last year; 85.9 thousand ha of sweet potato, equaling 93.8%; 144.2 thousand ha of peanut, equaling 97.7%; 28.6 thousand ha of soya bean, equaling 90.5%; 849 thousand ha of vegetables and beans, equaling 101.9%.

Estimated in July, the whole country’s buffalo population reduced by 2% compared to the same period in 2019; cattle population increased by 3%; pig population saw a drop of 3%; poultry population witnesed a 5.5% growth.

As of July 26, 2020, there was no longer blue-ear pig disease over the country. The bird flu has not passed 21 days in Quang Ngai, Tien Giang, and Long An provinces. The foot-and-mouth disease less than 21 days has still existed in Cao Bang, Nghe An, Quang Tri, Kon Tum and Phu Yen provinces. African swine fever under 21 days was recorded in 183 communes under 57 districts of 17 localities[1].

+ Agricultural production as of July 15, 2020

b) Forestry

Generally for seven months, the area of newly concentrated planted forest was estimated at 119 thousand ha, decreasing by 1.5% from the same period last year. The number of separate planted forestry trees gained 51.2 million trees, a decline of 1.4%; wood production achieved 8,985 thousand m3, a rise of 1.7%; and 11.4 million steres of firewood was recorded, a reduction of 0.3%.

In general, in seven months of 2020, there were 1,647.2 ha of damaged forest over the country, showing a decrease of 5.6% over the same period last year, of which burnt area was 1,243.1 ha, down 8.2%; destroyed area was 404.1 ha, up 3.6%.

c) Fishery

Generally, in seven months of 2020, fishing production was estimated at 4,647.3 thousand tons, increasing by 1.6% from the corresponding period last year, of which the output of aquaculture was 2,415.5 thousand tons, recording a rise of 1.6%; the production of fishery caught witnessed an increase of 1.5% with 2,231.8 thousand tons (sea catching reached 2,136.4 thousand tons, up 1.7%).

2. Industry

Generally for seven months of 2020, Index of industrial production (IIP) was estimated to increase by 2.6% against the similar period last year, much lower than the growth rate of 9.4% of the same period in 2019. In which, the manufacturing went up by 4.2% (it rose by 10.7% in the same period in 2019), contributing 3.5 percentage points to the overall growth; the power generation and distribution saw a rise of 2.1%, contributing 0.2 percentage point; the water supply, sewage management and treatment increased by 3.3%, contributing 0.1 percentage point; only the mining and quarrying witnessed a decline of 7.8%, reducing 1.2 percentage points in the general increase.

The number of laborers working in industrial enterprises as of July 01, 2020 showed a rise of 1.3% over the same period last month and a drop of 1.8% against the similar period last year, of which laborers in the State enterprise sector fell by 1.4%; laborers in the non-State enterprise sector moved down by 3%; laborers in FDI enterprise sector saw a drop of 1.2%.

+ Industrial Production Index
+ Main industrial products
+ Labor employed index (LEI) for industrial enterprises
+ Labor employed index (LEI) for industrial enterprises by province

3. Business registration situation[2]

Generally, in seven months, there were 75.2 thousand newly established enterprises over the country with a registered capital of VND 936.4 trillion and 598.6 thousand registered laborers, decreasing by 5.1% in the number of enterprises, by 6.3% in the amount of registered capital and by 19.5% in the number of laborers compared to the same period last year. The average registered capital per new enterprise in seven months was VND 12.4 billion, a drop of 1.2% against the same period last year. The total registered capital added to the economy in seven months of 2020 was VND 2,094.8 trillion, including VND 1,158.4 trillion of the additional capital of 21 thousand enterprises registering to increase capital, falling by 15.4% from the same period last year. In addition, there were nearly 28.6 thousand enterprises resumed operation, increasing by 17.6% over the similar period in 2019, bringing the total number of newly registered enterprises and re-operated enterprises in seven months to 103.8 thousand ones, a rise of 0.2% against the similar period last year. On average, there were 14.8 thousand newly established enterprises and resumed ones each month.

In seven months, the number of enterprises suspending operation for a definite time was 32.7 thousand ones, increasing by 41.5% compared to the similar period last year; the number of enterprises ceased operation waiting for dissolution procedures was 21.8 thousand ones, a decline of 12.2%; 8.9 thousand enterprises completed dissolution procedures, showing a decline of 3.5% compared to the similar period last year, of which 7.9 thousand enterprises had the capital size of less than VND 10 billion, down 5.1%; 138 ones had the capital size of more than VND 100 billion, up 4.5%. In seven months, the whole country had 26.7 thousand enterprises not operating at the registered address, up 26.8% over the same period last year.

+ Some indicators on enterprises
+ Number of newly registered enterperises
+ Number of re-operated enterprises
+ Number of enterprises suspending for a definite time
+ Number of enterprises completed dissolution procedures

4. Investment

Generally for seven months of 2020, total realized investment capital under the State budget reached VND 203 trillion, equaling 42.7% of the annual plan and increasing by 27.2% compared to the corresponding period last year (it equaled 41.6% of the yearly plan and  increased by 4.7% in the same period of 2019), of which the capital under central management recorded VND 32.5 trillion, equaling 38.4% of the annual plan and going up by 60.1% from the similar period last year; the capital under local management gained VND 170.5 trillion, equaling 63.6% of the annual plan and climbing by 22.5% over the identical period last year.

The total foreign investment in Vietnam as of July 20, 2020, including the newly registered capital, adjusted capital, contributed capital and shares purchased by foreign investors reached US$ 18.8 billion, down 6.9% compared to the same period last year. In particular, there were 1,620 newly licensed projects with a total registered capital of US$ 9.5 billion, a decline of 21.5% in the number of projects and a rise of 14.4% in the amount of registered capital against the similar period last year. In addition, there were 619 turns of license-granted projects from previous years registered to adjust investment capital with additional capital of US$ 4.7 billion, increasing by 37.7%; 4,459 turns of capital contribution and share purchase of foreign investors with the total contributed capital of US$ 4.6 billion, falling by 45.6%, of which there were 970 turns of capital contribution, share purchase increasing the charter capital of enterprises with the contributed capital of US$ 1.6 billion and 3,489 turns of foreign investors buying domestic shares back without increasing charter capital with contributed capital of US$ 3 billion. The realized foreign direct investment in seven months of 2020 was estimated at US$ 10.1 billion, down 4.1% against the similar period last year.

Vietnam’s direct investment abroad in seven months recorded 80 projects newly granted the Outward Investment Registration Certificate with Vietnam’s total investment capital of US$ 206.3 million; 17 turns of projects adjusting the capital with additional capital of US$ 46.6 million. Generally, Vietnam’s total offshore investment capital (including newly granted and additional capital) in seven months gained US$ 252.9 million, equaling 91.2% of the capital in the same period last year.

+ Realized investment capital under the State budget in July and 7 months of 2020
+ Licensed FDI projects from January 01 to July 20, 2020

5. Government revenues and expenditures

Total estimated government revenues from the beginning of the year to July 15, 2020 achieved VND 697.5 trillion, equaling 46.1% of the annual estimate, of which domestic revenues recorded VND 577.3 trillion, equaling 45.7%; collecting from crude oil gained VND 21.9 trillion, equaling 62.1%; from export-import balance obtained VND 98 trillion, equaling 47.1%. In domestic revenues, revenues from State owned enterprises was VND 67 trillion, equaling 37.7% of the yearly estimate; revenues from foreign-invested enterprises (excluding crude oil) was VND 96.8 trillion, equaling 42.3%; VND 103.2 trillion were collected from non-State industrial, commercial and service taxes, equaling 38.1%; personal income tax revenue was VND 66.7 trillion, equaling 51.8%; VND 30 trillion were collected from environmental protection tax, equaling 44.3%; collecting from land use fees reached VND 71.1 trillion, equaling 74.1%.

Total government expenditures from the beginning of the year to July 15, 2020 was estimated at VND 798.6 trillion, equaling 45.7% of the yearly estimate, of which regular expenditures were VND 552.5 trillion, equaling 52.3%; expenditure on development investment achieved VND 176.4 trillion, equaling 37.5%; VND 64.6 trillion were spent on interest payment, equaling 54.6%.

6. Trade, prices, transport and tourism

a) Retail sales of consumer goods and services

Total retail sales of consumer goods and services in seven months of 2020 reached VND 2,799.6 trillion, down 0.4% over the same period last year, if excluding the price factor, it decreased by 4.8% (it expanded by 9% in the similar period of 2019).

By kinds of economic activity, retail sales of goods in seven months gained VND 2,218 trillion, accounting for 79.2% of the total and going up by 3.6% over the similar period last year. Estimated sales of accommodation and catering services in seven months of this year recorded VND 280.9 trillion, taking 10% of the total and falling by 16.6% compared to the similar period last year (it increased by 10.1% in the corresponding period in 2019). Sales of travelling in seven months achieved an estimate of VND 11.1 trillion, accounting for 0.4% of the total and dropping by 55.4 % in comparison with that in the same period last year (it expanded by 10.1% in the same period in 2019). Sales of other services in seven months were estimated at VND 289.6 trillion, representing 10.4% of the total and moving down by 5.9% against the similar period in 2019.

+ Total retail sales of consumer goods and services

b) Merchandize exports and imports[3]

Exports

Generally for seven months of 2020, export turnover of goods was estimated at US$ 145.79 billion, a rise of 0.2% from the same period last year, of which the domestic economic sector continued to be a highlight with an estimated export turnover of US$ 50.76 billion, jumping up by 13.5%; the FDI sector (including crude oil) gained US$ 95.03 billion (accounting for 65.2% of total export turnover), decreasing by 5.7%.

Regarding the commodity structure of exports in seven months, the group of heavy industrial products and minerals was estimated at US$ 76.5 billion, up 2.5% over the same period last year, accounting for 52.5% of total merchandise export turnover (up 1.2 percentage points compared to the same period in 2019). The group of light industrial and handicraft products was estimated at US$ 53.3 billion, down 1.6% and taking 36.6% (down 0.7 percentage point). The group of agricultural and forest products reached US$ 11.6 billion, decreasing by 3.7% and representing 8% (down 0.3 percentage point). The group of fishery products gained US$ 4.4 billion, dropping by 6.4% and making up 3% (down 0.2 percentage point).

About merchandize export market, the United States was the biggest export market of Vietnam in seven months of 2020 with the turnover of US$ 37.9 billion, going up by 15% over  the same period last year; followed by China with US$ 23.5 billion, up 18.4%; EU with US$ 19.5 billion, down 5.9%; ASEAN with US$ 12.8 billion, down 15.4%; Japan with US$ 10.9 billion, down 5%; and South Korea with US$ 10.7 billion, down 0.4%.

Imports

Generally, import turnover of goods in seven months of 2020 reached an estimate of US$ 139.33 billion, witnessing a drop of 2.9% from the same period last year, of which the domestic economic sector gained US$ 61.86 billion, increasing by 1.5%; the FDI sector achieved US$ 77.47 billion, falling by 6.2%.

Regarding the commodity structure of imports in seven months of 2020, the group of capital goods was estimated at US$ 130.25 billion, decreasing by 2.6% compared to the same period last year and accounting for 93.5% of total import turnover; the group of consumer goods reached an estimate of US$ 9.08 billion, dropping by 7.3% and accounting for 6.5%.

About merchandize import market in seven months, China was the largest import market of Vietnam with estimated turnover of US$ 41.6 billion, decreasing by 1.8% against the corresponding period last year; followed by South Korea with US$ 24.3 billion, dropping by 9.2%; ASEAN with US$ 16.7 billion, falling by 11.3%; Japan with US$ 11.2 billion, moving up by 5.1%; the United States with US$ 8.3 billion, growing by 2.5%; EU with US$ 8.3 billion, going up by 6%.

Overall, in seven months of 2020, Vietnam reported estimated trade surplus of US$ 6.5 billion[4], of which the domestic economic sector recorded trade deficit of US$ 11.1 billion; the FDI sector (including crude oil) had trade surplus of US$ 17.6 billion.

+ Exports
+ Imports

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

Average CPI for 7 months of 2020 increased by 4.07% compared to the same period in 2019; CPI in July 2020 saw a reduction of 0.19% against December 2019 and  a rise of 3.39% over the similar period last year.

Core inflation in July 2020 grew by 0.09% from the previous month and by 2.31% against the identical period last year. Average core inflation for seven months of 2020 climbed by 2.74% compared to the corresponding period in 2019.

Gold price index in July 2020 expanded by 3.49% from the previous month, by 20.89% over December 2019 and by 28.57% against the same period last year. US dollar price index in July 2020 witnessed a 0.23% decrease from the previous month, a 0.24% growth against December 2019 and a reduction of 0.32% compared to the same period in 2019.

+ Consumer price indexes, gold, US dollar price indexes and core inflation in July 2020

d) Transport of passengers and cargos

Generally for seven months, transport of passengers 2,128.8 million passengers, a decrease of 26.7% over the corresponding period last year (it increased by 10.1% in the same period in 2019) and 100 billion passengers-km, a decline of 30.3% (it grew by 9.7% in the similar period last year), of which domestic transport gained 2,126.1 million passengers, down 26.5% and 90.5 billion passengers-km, down 20.4%; overseas transport achieved 2.7 million passengers, decreasing by 72.9% and 9.5 billion passengers-km, moving down by 68.2%. By types of transport, transport by road in seven months recorded 1,988.6 million passengers, going down by 27.3% from the same period last year and 72.5 billion passengers-km, falling by 22.7%; transport by inland waterway gained 113.2 million passengers, reducing by 8.2% and nearly 2.4 billion passengers-km, decreasing by 9%; transport by airway recorded 20.8 million passengers, going down by 35.8% and 23.8 billion passengers-km, decreasing by 46.7%; transport by seaway reached 3.7 million passengers, dropping by 24% and 220.5 million passengers-km, falling by 16.9%; transport by railway reached 2.5 million passengers, down 51.8% and 1,099.6 million passengers-km, down 49.7%.

Generally, the freight in seven months of 2020 reached 957.6 million tons, down 7.3% against the similar period last year (it moved up by 8.7% in the same period in 2019) and 189.3 billion tons-km, down 6.4% (it expanded by 7.2% in the identical period last year), of which the domestic freight reached 936.5 million tons, seeing a decline of 7.3% and 97.7 billion tons-km, a reduction of 11.3%; oversea freight reached 21.1 million tons, decreasing by 4.8% and 91.7 billion tons-km, dropping by 0.5%. By types of freight, freight by road in seven months reached 738.6 million tons, witnessing a fall of 7.9% compared to the identical period last year and 51.3 billion tons-km, a drop of 11.2%; freight by inland waterway reached 170.3 million tons, down 5.5% and 37.2 billion tons-km, down 4.6%; freight by seaway recorded 45.5 million tons, decreasing by 3.9% and 96.4 billion tons-km, moving down by 2.6%; freight by railway reached 2.9 million tons, showing a decrease of 2.8% and 2.1 billion tons-km, a decline of 1.2%; freight by airway reached 164.1 thousand tons, down 33.5% and 2.4 billion tons-km, down 46.2%.

+ Carriage of passengers
+ Carriage of cargos

e) International visitors to Vietnam

International visitors to Vietnam in seven months of 2020 was estimated at 3,758.4 thousand arrivals, moving down by 61.6% compared to the same period last year, of which visitors coming by airway gained 3,043.5 thousand arrivals, accounting for 81% of the number of international visitors to Vietnam, dropping by 60.5%; visitors coming by road recorded 570.5 thousand arrivals, accounting for 15.2%  and going down by 70.5%; visitors coming by seaway witnessed a decline of 8.4% with 144.4 thousand arrivals, accounting for 3.8%.

In seven months of this year, visitors coming from Asia recorded 2,742.9 thousand arrivals, accounting for 73% of total international visitors to Vietnam, decreasing by 63.9% over the identical period last year. Visitors from Europe in seven months reached an estimate of 666.6 thousand arrivals, down 48.7% from the same period last year. Visitors from America gained an estimate of 234.5 thousand arrivals, down 61.4% over the corresponding period last year. Visitors from Australia achieved 102.3 thousand arrivals, dropping by 61.3%. Visitors from Africa reached 12.1 thousand arrivals, reducing by 54% over the same period in 2019.

+ International visitors to Vietnam

7. Social issues

a) Farmers’ food shortage

Generally for seven months of this year, the whole country recorded 16.5 thousand households suffering from food shortage, corresponding to 66.5 thousand persons suffering from this difficulty, both down 74.9% compared to the same period last year,. To overcome this problem, from the beginning of the year, all administrative levels, sectors and organizations from the central to local supported difficult households with 733.6 tons of rice.

b) Epidemic diseases and food poisoning

In general, in seven months of 2020, the whole country had 37.8 thousand cases of hemorrhagic fever (3 cases died); 9,243 cases of hand, foot, mouth disease; 295 cases of virus encephalitis (7 deaths); 7 cases of meningococcal disease; and  2,587 cases of scarlet fever suspected for measles, of which 223 cases were positive for measles.

Diphtheria continues to spread out in the Central Highlands provinces. As of 16 July 2020, there were 100 cases that were positive for diphtheria (3 deaths), including 30 cases in Dak Nong (2 deaths), 29 cases in Kon Tum, 24 cases in Gia Lai (1 death), and 17 cases in Dak Lak.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to develop complicatedly[5]. In Vietnam, in July, a new case of Covid-19 was found in the community, as of 9 a.m. on 27 July, 2020, there were 420 confirmed cases (365 cases have been cured).

Total number of alive HIV-infected persons over the country as of July 18, 2020 was 210,547 persons and 97,027 cases turned to AIDS. The number of persons died of HIV/AIDS as of above time-point was 98,948 persons.

Generally for seven months of 2020, the whole country recorded 50 cases of food poisoning with 1,209 poisoned persons (19 deaths).

c) Traffic accidents

Generally for seven months of 2020, 7,996 traffic accidents occurred nationwide, including 4,579 cases of traffic accidents from less serious to become and 3,417 cases of traffic collisions, causing 3,791 deaths, 2,366 injuries and 3,484 minor injuries. Compared to the same period last year, the number of traffic accidents in seven months of 2020 declined by 18.6% (number of traffic accidents of differently serious levels reduced by 12.1%; number of traffic collisions decreased by 25.9%); number of deaths fell by 15.1%; number of injuries went down by 15% and number of minor injuries dropped by 25.5%. On average, there were 38 traffic accidents occurred nationwide each day in seven months of 2020, including 22 traffic accidents from less serious to become and 16 traffic collisions, causing 18 deaths, 11 injuries and 16 minor injuries.

d) Damages caused by natural calamity

Generally for seven months of 2020, natural calamity made 45 persons died and lost, 144 others injured, 130 thousand ha of rice and 60.5 thousand ha of crops damaged, 1,220 houses collapsed, over 64.8 thousand houses damaged. The total loss in asset caused by natural disasters was estimated at more than VND 6.4 trillion.

e) Environmental pollution, fire and explosion

Generally, seven months of this year found 6,729 cases of violating regulations of environment protection over the country, of which 6,157 cases were treated with total fine of VND 102.9 billion.

Generally, there were 1,779 fire and explosion cases in the whole country in seven months, causing 59 deaths and 119 injuries, with an estimated damage of VND 369.4 billion.

GENERAL STATISTICS OFFICE

[1] Bac Kan, Tuyen Quang, Lang Son, Cao Bang, Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh, Dak Nong, Dak Lak, Quang Tri, Bac Lieu, Dong Thap and Vinh Long.

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

[3] The data for July 2020 was estimated by the inter-sectoral group including the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the State Bank, the General Department of Vietnam Customs - the Ministry of Finance and the General Statistics Office basing on export-import turnover data of the first period in a month (from day 01 to 15) collected by the General Department of Vietnam Customs combined with market information, proportion and trend of exports and imports of commodities.

[4] Of which, Vietnam’s trade surplus with EU gained US$ 11.2 billion, down 13.2% from the same period last year; trade deficit with China was US$ 18.1 billion, down 19.5%; trade deficit with South Korea recorded US$ 13.6 billion, down 15.1%; trade deficit with ASEAN was US$ 3.9  billion, up 5.3%.

[5] As of 9 a.m. on 27 July 2020, the world recorded 16,421.8 thousand confirmed cases of Covid-19 (652 thousand deaths).