SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SITUATION IN 4 MONTHS OF 2018

1. Agriculture, forestry and fishery

a. Agriculture

As of April 15, 2018, the country had 3121 hectares of cultivated winter-spring rice, equaling 100.2% of the area of the same period last year. Up to this time, provinces in the North basically finished the cultivation with an area of 1147.9 thousand hectares, equaling 100.3% of the area of the same period last year. The Southern provinces cultivated 1973.1 thousand hectares of winter-spring rice, equaling 100.2% of the area of the same period in 2017.

As of mid-April, provinces in the South harvested 1525.1 thousand hectares of winter-spring rice, accounting for 77.3% of the sown area and equaling 94.1% of the area of the similar period last year. As of April 15, the Southern provinces sowed 459.8 thousand hectares of summer-autumn rice, equaling 81.3% of the area of the identical period last year.

As of mid-April, provinces over the country cultivated 416.7 thousand hectares of maize, equaling 96.3% of the area of the same period last year; 66.4 thousand hectares of sweet potato, equaling 92.5%; 118.7 thousand hectares of peanut, equaling 85.9%; 31.8 thousand hectares of soya, equaling 108.5%; 560.6 thousand hectares of vegetables, equaling 100.7%.

In April, as estimated, the country’s flock of buffaloes reduced by 0.4% compared to the same period last year; flock of oxen increased by 2.9%; flock of poutry put up by 6.8%; flock of pigs fell by 5.8%.

+ Agricultural production as of April 15, 2018

b. Forestry

Generally, in the first four months of the year, the concentrated planted forest area was estimated to reach 48.3 thousand ha, down 0.2% compared with the same period last year; the number of separate planted trees gained 22.5 million trees, a decline 0.2%; wood production achieved 3025 thousand m3, a rise of 9.6%; firewood production gained 9 million steres, an increase of 0.6%.

Generally, in the first four months of the year, damaged forest area was 308 hectares, down 26.3% against the same period last year, of which burnt forest area was 92 hectares, a decrease of 33.8%; destroyed forest area was 216 hectares, down 22.6%.

c. Fishery

Generally, in four beginning months of the year, fishing production was estimated to reach 2090.6 thousand tons, up 4.5% over the same period last year, of which production of aquaculture gained 1006.1 thousand tons, up 5.9%; production of fishery caught achieved 1084.5 thousand tons, up 3.2% (production of sea catching reached 1034.8 thousand tons, up 3.3%).

2. Industry

Generally, in the first four months of 2018, the index of industrial production (IIP) for the whole industry increased by 11.4% over the similar period last year, higher than the growth rate of 6.6% in the same period in 2017[1]. Of which, the manufacturing continued to grow at a high rate of 14%, contributed 10.6 percentage points to the general growth; the production and distribution of electricity grew by 9.7%, contributed 0.9 percentage points; the water supply and waste treatment increased by 5.5%, contributed 0.1 percentage points; the mining and quarrying went down by 1.2%, reduced 0.2 percentage points of the general growth.

The number of employees working in industrial enterprises as of April 01, 2018 rose by 3.9% compared to the same period last year, of which employees in the State enterprise sector decreased by 1.1%; employees in the non-State enterprise sector grew by 4.3%; and employees in the FDI enterprise sector went up by 4.5%.

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

3. Business registration situation[2]

Generally, in the first four months of this year, the whole country had 41295 enterprises registered for new establishment with a total registered capital of 412 trillion dongs, an increase of 4.3% in the number of enterprise and 11.5% rise in the registered capital compared to the same period in 2017[3]. Average registered capital per newly established enterprise reached 10 billion dongs, up 6.8%. If including 749 trillion dongs of nearly 12.2 thousand turns of enterprises changed to raise the capital, the total registered capital added to the economy in the first four months of 2018 was 1161 trillion dongs. Besides, there were 11442 enterprises returning to operation, down 0.9% over the similar period last year, bringing the total number of newly registered enterprises and re-operated enterprises in the first four months of this year to more than 52.7 thousand enterprises. Total number of registered laborers of newly established enterprises in the first four months of 2018 was 332.1 thousand people, a decrease of 21.7% against the same period last year.

The number of temporarily ceased enterprises in the first four months of 2018 was 26277 ones, a decrease of 4.1% against the identical period last year, including 14187 enterprises registered for time-limited temporary cessation of business, rising by 23.5% and 12090 enterprises temporarily suspended operation without registering or waiting for dissolution, falling by 24%.

The number of enterprises which finished the procedure for dissolution in four beginning months of 2018 was 4699 ones, an increase of 15.8% from the same period last year, of which there were 4296 enterprises with capital size of less than 10 billion dongs, accounting for 91.4%.

+ Number of newly registered enterprises by kinds of activity
+ Number of re-operated enterprises by kinds of activity
+ Number of temporarily ceased enterprises by kinds of activity

4. Investment

Generally, in the first four months of the year, realized investment capital under the State budget reached 70.9 trillion dongs, equaling 21% of the annual plan and up 9.3% against the same period last year (it grew by 4.4% in 2017’s same period), of which the capital under central management obtained 13.1 trillion dongs, equaling 19.9% of the annual plan and a decline of 2.3% over the identical period last year; the capital under local management achieved 57.8 trillion dongs, equaling 21.2% of the annual plan and increasing by 12.3% compared to the same period in 2017.

From the beginning of the year to April 20, 2018, FDI attracted 883 newly licensed projects with the total registered capital of US$ 3553.8 million, an increase of 20.3% in the number of projects and a decrease of 27.2% in the registered capital against the similar period in 2017. Besides, there were 303 turns of license-granted projects from previous years registered to adjust investment capital with the additional capital of US$ 2244.8 million, down 48.5% from the same period last year. Thus, the total of newly registered capital and additional capital in four months reached US$ 5798.6 million, down 37.3% from 2017’s same period. Realized FDI capital in the first four months of  the year was estimated at US$ 5.1 billion, increasing by 6.3% over the identical period in 2017.  In the first four months of 2018, there were 1863 turns of capital contribution and share purchase of foreign investors with a total capital contribution of US$ 2262.9 million, a growth of 67% against the same period in 2017, of which 1087 turns of capital contribution and share purchase increased the charter capital of enterprises with the contributed capital of US$ 1.56 billion and 776 turns of foreign investors bought back domestic shares without increasing charter capital with the value of US$ 703.5 million.

37 provinces and centrally-run cities nationwide had newly licensed foreign direct investment projects from 45 countries and territories.

Regarding Vietnam’s direct investment abroad, in the first four months of 2018, the whole country had 34 projects newly granted the Outward Investment Registration Certificate with Vietnam’s total investment capital of US$ 129 million, in addition, there were 11 projects adjusting capital with additional capital of US$ 24.6 million. Generally, Vietnam’s total offshore investment capital in the first four months of 2018 gained US$ 153.6 million.

+ Realized investments under the State budget
+ Licensed FDI projects from January 01 to April 20, 2018

5. Government revenues and expenditures

Total estimated government revenues from the beginning of the year to April 15, 2018 achieved 364.6 trillion dongs, equaling 27.6% of the annual estimate, of which domestic revenues reached 295.7 trillion dongs, equaling 26.9%; collecting from crude oil achieved 16.3 trillion dongs, equaling 45.5%; from export-import balance gained 52.4 trillion dongs, equaling 29.3%. In domestic revenues, revenue from State owned enterprises was 35.2 trillion dongs, equaling 21.1% of the yearly estimate; revenue from foreign-invested enterprises (excluding crude oil) was 48.1 trillion dongs, equaling 21.6%; 60.1 trillion dongs were collected from non-State industrial, commercial and service taxes, equaling 27.6%; personal income tax revenue was 31.2 trillion dongs, equaling 32.2%; 10.2 trillion dongs were collected from environmental protection tax, equaling 20.9%; land use fees reached 32.2 trillion dongs, equaling 37.5%.

Total government expenditures from the beginning of the year to April 15, 2018 was estimated at 353.3 trillion dongs, equaling 23.2% of the yearly estimate, of which regular expenditures were 260.1 trillion dongs, equaling 27.6%; expenditure on development investment achieved 54.6 trillion dongs, equaling 13.7%; expenditure on interest payment was 37.6 trillion dongs, equaling 33.4%;

6. Trade, prices, transport and tourism

a. Retail sales of consumer goods and services

Generally, in four beginning months of the year, total estimated retail sales of consumer goods and services reached 1399.4 trillion dongs, up 9.8% against the same period last year, if excluding the price factor, the growth rate was 8.5% (it increased by 7.0% in the same period in 2017).

By kinds of economic activity, retail sales of goods in the first four months of the year gained an estimate of 1060.2 trillion dongs, accounting for 75.8% of the total and increasing by 10.8% over the similar period last year. Estimated sales of accommodation and catering services in the first four months of the year attained 172 trillion dongs, accounting for 12.3% of the total and moving up by 9.4% from the same period last year. Sales of travelling in four months achieved an estimate of 12.9 trillion dongs, making up 0.9% of the total and climbing by 26.1% against the similar period last year. Sales of other services in four months was estimated at 154.3 trillion dongs, representing 11% of the total and increasing by 3.2% compared to the identical period in 2017.

+ Total retail sales of consumer goods and services

b. Exports and imports of goods

Generally, in four beginning months of the year, export turnovers of goods was estimated to reach US$ 73.76 billion, a rise of 19% compared with the same period in 2017, of which the domestic economic sector achieved US$ 20.28 billion, moving up by 17.9%; the FDI sector (including crude oil) accounted for up to 72.5% of the total export turnover, gained US$ 53.48 billion, increasing by 19.4%.

About the merchandize export market in the first four months of this year, the United States was the biggest export market of Vietnam with the turnover of US$ 14 billion, up 12.7% over  the same period last year; followed by China with US$ 10.7 billion, increasing by 29%; ASEAN with US$ 7.9 billion, an increase of 16.4%; Japan with US$ 5.8 billion, up 15.2%; South Korea with US$ 5.8 billion, a growth of 31.2%.

Generally, in the first four months of the year, import turnovers reached an estimate of US$ 70.37 billion, up 10.1% from the same period last year, of which the domestic economic sector gained US$ 28.06 billion, up 11.2%; the FDI sector achieved US$ 42.31 billion, up 9.3%.

About the merchandize import market in the first four months of the year, China was still the biggest import market of Vietnam with turnover of US$ 18.1 billion, up 5.8% against the corresponding period in 2017; followed by ASEAN with US$ 9.9 billion, a rise of 14.5%; Japan with US$ 5.9 billion, 16.1% increase; EU with US$ 4 billion, up 9.7%; the United States with US$ 3.6 billion, up 18%.

Generally, in the first four months of the year, Vietnam had trade surplus of US$ 3.39 billion[4], of which the domestic economic sector had trade deficit of US$ 7.78 billion; the FDI sector (including crude oil) had trade suplus of US$ 11.17 billion.

+ Exports
+ Imports

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

Average CPI in the first four months of 2018 increased by 2.80% compared to the similar period in 2017. CPI in April 2018 grew by 1.05% over December 2017 and by 2.75% from the same period last year.

Average core inflation in the first four months of this year rose by 1.34% against the similar period in 2017.

Gold price index in April 2018 went up by 0.47% over the previous month, increased by 3.67% compared to December 2017 and moved up by 5.41% over the same period in 2017. The US dollar price index in April 2018 grew by 0.10% over the previous month and by 0.32% compared to December 2017 and rose by 0.29% over the same period in 2017.

+ Consumer price indexes, gold, US dollar price indexes and core inflation in April 2018

d. Carriage of passengers and cargos

Generally, in the first four months of the year, passenger carriage reached 1492.1 million passengers, rising by 10.1% over the corresponding period last year and 65.7 billion passengers-kilometers, by 10.7%. Passengers carried by road achieved 1408.1 million passengers, a rise of 10.3% and 45.8 billion passengers-kilometers, a rise of 10.9%; by inland waterway: 62.8 million passengers, up 5.8% and 1.2 billion passengers-kilometers, up 6%; by seaway: 2.4 million passengers, 6.6% increase and 142.5 million passengers-kilometers, 7.3% growth. Passenger carriage by airway reached a fairly good level with 16 million passengers, an increase of 12.3% and 17.4 billion passengers-kilometers, an increase of 11.9%. Only passenger carriage by railway reached 2.8 million passengers, a drop of 11.4% and 1.2 billion passengers-kilometers, a decline of 4.5%.

Generally, in the first four months of the year, cargo carriage gained 524.9 million tons, up 9.4% from the same period last year and 97.4 billion tons-kilometers, up 6.1%. Of which the domestic transport reached 513.8 million tons, increasing by 9.6% and 52.1 billion tons-kilometers, by 9%; overseas transport reached 11 million tons, moving up by 1.4% and 42.5 billion tons-kilometers, by 3%. By types of transport, cargo transport by road obtained 405.3 million tons, a rise of 10.2% over the same period last year and 26.7 billion tons-kilometers, up 9.7%; by inland waterway: 92.6 million tons, up 7.3% and 19.6 billion tons-kilometers, an increase of 6.9%; by seaway: 25.1 million tons, going up by 4.4% and 49.5 billion tons-kilometers, climbing by 3.8%; by railway: 1.9 million tons, a growth of 5.9% and 1.3 billion tons-kilometers, an increase of 14.8%; by airway: 90.3 thousand tons, a decline of 3.5% and 237.3 million tons-kilometers, a decrease of 0.2%.

+ Carriage of passengers and cargos

e. International visitors to Vietnam

Generally, in the first four months of the year, international visitors to Vietnam was estimated to reach 5547.3 thousand arrivals, up 29.5% from the same period last year, of which visitors coming by airway reached 4434.5 thousand arrivals, moving up by 26.3%; by road: 970.7 thousand arrivals, jumping up by 58.9%; by seaway: 142.1 thousand arrivals, decreasing by 12.2%.

In the first four months of this year, visitors to Vietnam from Asia achieved 4168.9 thousand arrivals, increasing by 36% against the similar period last year. Visitors from Europe were estimated to reach 843.4 thousand arrivals, going up by 12.9% from the identical period last year. Visitors from America obtained 357.3 thousand arrivals, growing by 13.4% over the same period last year. Visitors from Australia gained 163 thousand arrivals, up 12.6% from the same period in 2017. Visitors from Africa achieved 14.8 thousand arrivals, a rise of 22.5% against the similar period in 2017.

+ International visitors to Vietnam

7. Social issues

 a. People’s life and social security

Generally, in four beginning months of 2018, the whole country had 59.4 thousand households suffering from food shortage, a decrease of 36.7% from the same period last year, corresponding to 229.8 thousand persons suffering from food shortage, a decline of 40.6%. To overcome this problem, from the beginning of the year, all administrative levels, sectors and organizations from central to local level supported difficult households with 4.8 thousand tons of rice.

b. Epidemic diseases and food poisoning

Generally, in the first four months of the year, the whole country had nearly 7000 cases of hand, foot, mouth disease; 14.8 thousand cases of hemorrhagic fever (4 cases died); 162 cases of typhoid; 131 cases of virus encephalitis (2 cases died); 101 cases of whooping cough; 10 cases of meningococcal disease; 30 human cases of streptococcus suis infection (3 cases died); and 18 cases died of rabies and 552 persons suffering from food poisoning (6 persons died).

Total number of alive HIV-infected persons over the country as of April 15, 2018 was 209.4 thousand persons and 90.7 thousand cases turned to AIDS. The number of persons died of HIV/AIDS nationwide as of above time-point was 96.1 thousand persons.

c. Traffic accidents

Generally, in the first four months of 2018, 6020 traffic accidents occurred nationwide, including 3104 traffic accidents of less serious or more and 2916 traffic crashes, making 2788 persons died, 1576 ones injured and 3060 ones slightly injured. Compared with the same period last year, the number of traffic accidents in four beginning months of this year decreased by 5.5% (the number of traffic accidents from less serious and over went down by 3.4%, the number of traffic crashes fell by 7.6%); number of dead declined by 0.3%; the number of injured people increased by 9.4% and the number of minor injuries reduced by 16.8%. On an average, each day in the first four months of the year, the whole country had 50 traffic accidents, including 26 traffic accidents of less serious or more and 24 traffic crashes, making 23 persons died, 13 ones injured and 25 ones slightly injured.

d. Damages caused by natural calamity

Generally, in the first four months of the year, natural calamity made 3 persons died and 17 persons injured; more than 9600 houses collapsed, landslided, roof blown away; 5400 hectares of rice and crops damaged. Total value of damage in four months was estimated at over 378 billion dongs.

e. Environment protection, fire and explosion prevention

Generally, in the first four months of the year, 5124 cases of violating regulations of environment protection were found over the country, of which 4749 cases were treated with total fine of 66.2 billion dongs.

Generally, in four beginning months of this year, the whole country had 1453 cases of fire and explosion, killing 54 persons and injuring 141 others, the value of damage was estimated at about 840 billion dongs.

GENERAL STATISTICS OFFICE

[1] Of which, in the first four months of 2017, the manufacturing increased by 9.5% compared to the same period in the previous year; production and distribution of electricity grew by 10%; water supply and waste treatment climbed by 7.6%; mining and quarrying decreased by 7.6%.

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

[3] In four months of 2017, the number of registered for new establishment increased by 14% over the same period in the previous year; the registered capital grew by 48.9%; average registered capital per newly established enterprise went up by 30.6%

[4] Of which, in the first four months of the year, trade deficit with South Korea was US$ 9.7 billion, down 2.9% from the same period last year; trade deficit with China was US$ 7.3 billion, down 16.2%