VIETNAM ECONOMIC NEWS INSIGHT & RECAP - SEPTEMBER 2025

Vietnam closed the third quarter of 2025 with sustained growth momentum, posting 8.23% year-on-year expansion in the quarter and 7.85% for the first nine months of the year. Industry and services continued to drive the country’s economy, supported by resilient domestic consumption and a rebound in tourism. Trade turnover increased by 17.3% year-on-year while Vietnam continued to record a trade surplus of USD16.82 billion. The FDI attraction picture remained bright as disbursement reached a five-year high of USD18.8 billion during the nine-month period. These results reaffirm the economy’s underlying dynamism even as global economic conditions remain uncertain.

Beyond these results, September marked a more decisive shift in Vietnam’s economic trajectory. The steady planning of Ho Chi Minh City’s International Financial Centre (IFC), coupled with the city’s climb in the Global Financial Centres Index, signals growing institutional readiness for deeper financial integration. Moreover, the effort to upgrade Vietnam’s stock market to “secondary emerging” status and the rollout of green trade guidelines reflect the government’s deliberate move toward higher quality, internationally integrated growth. These initiatives emerge against a backdrop of intensifying external challenges: new U.S. tariffs taking effect, stricter EU sustainability rules, and softening global demand. As such, Vietnam’s push to deepen capital markets, green its export base, and strengthen regulatory infrastructure signals not only reform under pressure but also a transition into a new phase of economic maturity.

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