SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SITUATION IN EIGHT MONTHS OF 2018

1. Production of agriculture, forestry and fishery

a) Agriculture

As of August 15, the whole country cultivated 1567.5 thousand hectares (ha) of winter rice, equaling 99.2% of the cultivated area in the same period last year. For the summer-autumn rice crop this year, the whole country cultivated 2052.7 thousand ha, a decline of 13.8 thousand ha compared with the same crop last year. As of mid-August, the country harvested 945.8 thousand ha of summer-autumn rice, accounting for 46.1% of the sown area and equaling 91.9% of the cultivated area in the same period last year. According to localities’ reports, the productivity of summer-autumn rice this year was estimated to reach 5450 kilograms per ha (kg/ha), an increase of 30 kg/ha compared with the last summer-autumn crop, however, due to the decrease of the cultivated area, total yield of the entire summer-autumn rice crop in 2018 was estimated to gain 11.2 million tons, a decline of 23 thousand tons from the summer-autumn crop in 2017.

As of August 15, localities nationwide planted 930.4 thousand ha of maize, equaling 95.4% of the planted area in the same period last year; 104.4 thousand ha of sweet potato, equaling 98.2%; 170.8 thousand ha of peanut, equaling 96%; 50 thousand ha of soya beans, equaling 75.4%; 941.5 thousand ha of vegetables, equaling 104.4%.

The whole country’s flock of buffaloes in the month was estimated to reduce by 1.3% from the same period last year; flock of oxen increased by 2.1%; flock of pigs grew by 0.2%; flock of poultry climbed by 5.9%.

+ Agricultural production as of August 15, 2018

b) Forestry

Generally, the concentrated planted forest area in eight months was estimated to reach 138.6 thousand ha, increasing by 0.4% compared with the same period last year; the number of separate planted trees gained 49.6 million trees, equaling the figure in the same period last year; wood production achieved 7736 thousand m3, a rise of 9.6%; firewood production gained 16.8 million steres, a decline of 1.7%.

In eight months of this year, the damaged forest area was 909.7 ha, down 12.2% against the same period last year, of which the burnt forest area was 293.7 ha, a decrease of 25.8%; the destroyed forest area was 616 ha, a decrease of 3.8%.

c) Fishery

Generally, in eight months of 2018, fishing production was estimated to reach 4929.1 thousand tons, up 5.8% over the same period last year, of which production of aquaculture gained 2531 thousand tons, up 6.6%; production of fishery caught achieved 2398.1 thousand tons, up 5% (production of sea catching reached 2276.5 thousand tons, up 5.2%).

2. Industry

Generally, in eight months of 2018, the index of industrial production (IIP) for the whole industry increased by 11.2% over the similar period last year, higher than the growth rate of 8.2% in the same period in 2017[1]. Of which, the manufacturing increased by 13.3%, contributed 10.2 percentage points to the overall growth; the production and distribution of electricity grew by 10.4%, contributed 0.9 percentage point; the water supply and waste treatment increased by 6.5%, contributed 0.1 percentage point; only the mining and quarrying fell by 0.3%, reduced 0.04 percentage point of the general growth.

The number of employees working in industrial enterprises as of August 01, 2018 climbed by 3% over the same period last year, of which employees in the State enterprise sector decreased by 0.9%; employees in the non-State enterprise sector grew by 3.2%; and employees in the FDI enterprise sector went up by 3.5%.

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

3. Business registration situation[2]

Generally, in eight months, the whole country had 87448 enterprises registered for new establishment with a total registered capital of 878.6 trillion dongs, an increase of 2.4% in the number of enterprise and 6.9% rise in the registered capital compared with the same period in 2017[3]. Average registered capital per newly established enterprise reached 10 billion dongs, up 4.3%. If including 1679.6 trillion dongs of additionally registered capital of the enterprises which changed to raise the capital, the total registered capital added to the economy in eight months of 2018 was 2558.2 trillion dongs. Besides, there were 20942 enterprises returning to operation, a rise of 9.3% over the similar period last year, bringing the total number of newly registered enterprises and re-operated enterprises in eight months of this year to nearly 108.4 thousand enterprises. Total number of registered laborers of newly established enterprises in eight months of 2018 was 734.7 thousand persons, a decrease of 10.7% against the same period last year.

The number of temporarily ceased enterprises in eight months of 2018 was 63235 ones, an increase of 38.1% against the identical period last year, including 21575 enterprises registered for time-limited temporary cessation of business, rising by 25.2% and 41660 enterprises temporarily suspended operation without registering or waiting for dissolution, increasing by 45.9%[4].

The number of enterprises which finished the procedure for dissolution in eight months of this year was 9135 ones, an increase of 17.8% from the same period last year, of which there were 8357 enterprises with capital size of less than 10 billion dongs, accounting for 91.5% and growing by 16.9%.

+ 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 eight months of this year, realized investment capital under the State budget reached 183.6 trillion dongs, equaling 55.2% of the annual plan and increasing by 11.3% against the same period last year (it equaled 53.6% of the yearly plan and grew by 6.4% in 2017’s same period), of which the capital under central management obtained 33.8 trillion dongs, equaling 51.3% of the annual plan and decreasing by 7.6% over the identical period last year; the capital under local management achieved 149.8 trillion dongs, equaling 56.1% of the annual plan and increasing by 16.7% compared with the same period in 2017.

From the beginning of the year to August 20, 2018, FDI attracted 1918 newly licensed projects with the total registered capital of US$ 13481.6 million, an increase of 18.1% in the number of projects and a rise of 0.2% in the registered capital against the similar period in 2017. Besides, there were 736 turns of license-granted projects from previous years registered to adjust investment capital with the additional capital of US$ 5584.8 million, down 12.8% from the same period last year. Thus, the total of newly registered capital and additional capital in eight months reached US$ 19066.4 million, down 4% from 2017’s same period. Realized FDI capital in eight months of this year was estimated at US$ 11.25 billion, increasing by 9.2% over the identical period in 2017.  In eight months of 2018, there were 4551 turns of capital contribution and share purchase of foreign investors with a total contributory value of US$ 5.28 billion, a growth of 50.9% against the same period in 2017, of which 669 turns of capital contribution and share purchase increased the charter capital of enterprises with the contributed capital of US$ 1.76 billion and 3882 turns of foreign investors bought back domestic shares without increasing charter capital with the value of US$ 3.52 billion.

In the first eight months of the year, 52 provinces and centrally-run cities nationwide received newly licensed foreign direct investment projects from 66 countries and territories.

Vietnam’s direct investment abroad in eight months of this year had 93 projects newly granted the Outward Investment Registration Certificate with Vietnam’s total investment capital of US$ 271.5 million; 22 capital adjustment projects with additional capital of US$ 42 million. Generally, Vietnam’s total offshore investment capital (including newly granted and additional capital) in eight months of 2018 gained US$ 313.5 million.

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

5. Government revenues and expenditures

Total estimated government revenues from the beginning of the year to August 15, 2018 achieved 814.2 trillion dongs, equaling 61.7% of the annual estimate, of which domestic revenues reached 649 trillion dongs, equaling 59%; collecting from crude oil gained 37.7 trillion dongs, equaling 105.1%; from export-import balance obtained 125.2 trillion dongs, equaling 70%. In domestic revenues, revenue from State owned enterprises was 90.2 trillion dongs, equaling 54.2% of the yearly estimate; revenue from foreign-invested enterprises (excluding crude oil) was 109.6 trillion dongs, equaling 49.2%; 128.2 trillion dongs were collected from non-State industrial, commercial and service taxes, equaling 58.8%; personal income tax revenue was 59.9 trillion dongs, equaling 61.9%; 26.7 trillion dongs were collected from environmental protection tax, equaling 54.8%; land use fees reached 74.4 trillion dongs, equaling 86.6%.

Total government expenditures from the beginning of the year to August 15, 2018 was estimated at 820.2 trillion dongs, equaling 53.8% of the yearly estimate, of which regular expenditures were 573 trillion dongs, equaling 60.9%; expenditure on development investment achieved 166.3 trillion dongs, equaling 41.6%; expenditure on interest payment was 71.9 trillion dongs, equaling 63.9%.

6. Trade, prices, transport and tourism

a) Retail sales of consumer goods and services

Generally, in eight months of 2018, total estimated retail sales of consumer goods and services reached 2860.4 trillion dongs, up 11.2% against the same period last year, if excluding the price factor, the growth rate was 8.53% (it increased by 8.36% in the same period in 2017).

By kinds of economic activity, retail sales of goods in eight months of this year gained an estimate of 2149.5 trillion dongs, accounting for 75.2% of the total and increasing by 11.7% over the similar period last year. Estimated sales of accommodation and catering services in eight months attained 352 trillion dongs, accounting for 12.3% of the total and moving up by 9.1% from the same period last year. Sales of travelling in eight months of this year achieved an estimate of 26.8 trillion dongs, making up 0.9% of the total and climbing by 17.6% against the similar period last year. Sales of other services in eight months was estimated at 332.1 trillion dongs, representing 11.6% of the total and increasing by 9.5% compared to the identical period in 2017.

+ Total retail sales of consumer goods and services

b) Exports and imports of goods

Generally, in eight months of 2018, export turnovers of goods was estimated to reach US$ 155.41 billion, a rise of 14.5% compared with the same period in 2017, of which the domestic economic sector achieved US$ 45.11 billion, moving up by 17.4%; the FDI sector (including crude oil) gained US$ 110.30 billion (accounting for 71% of total export turnovers), increasing by 13.4%.

About the merchandize export market in eight months, the United States was the biggest export market of Vietnam with the turnover of US$ 30.2 billion, up 10.2% over  the same period last year; followed by EU with US$ 27.7 billion, increasing by 10.8%, of which electronics, computers and their parts grew by 23.3%; China with US$ 23.4 billion, a rise of 25.2%; ASEAN with US$ 16.5 billion, an increase of 16%; Japan with US$ 12 billion, moving up by 9.4%; South Korea with US$ 11.8 billion, a growth of 27.9%.

Generally, in eight months, import turnovers of goods reached an estimate of US$ 152.66 billion, up 11.6% from the same period last year, of which the domestic economic sector gained US$ 61.85 billion, up 11.8%; the FDI sector achieved US$ 90.81 billion, up 11.4%.

About the merchandize import market in eight months, China was still the biggest import market of Vietnam with turnover of US$ 41.4 billion, up 12.8% against the corresponding period in 2017; followed by South Korea with US$ 30.8 billion, increasing by 1.9%; ASEAN with US$ 20.5 billion, climbing by 11.8%; Japan with US$ 12.2 billion, 14.8% increase; EU with US$ 8.9 billion, growing by 11.2%; the United States with US$ 8.7 billion, jumping up by 39.2%.

Realized machandize trade balance in July had trade deficit of US$ 635 million[5]. As estimated, trade deficit was US$ 100 million in August.  Generally, in eight months, the balance of trade maintained trade surplus with US$ 2.8 billion[6], of which the domestic economic sector had trade deficit of US$ 16.7 billion; the FDI sector (including crude oil) had trade surplus of US$ 19.5 billion.

+ Exports
+ Imports

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

Average CPI in eight months of 2018 increased by 3.52% compared with the similar period in 2017. CPI in August 2018 grew by 2.59% over December 2017 and by 3.98% from the same period last year.

Core inflation in August 2018 jumped up by 0.22% over the last month and by 1.54% over the identical period last year. In eight months of this year, average core inflation increased by 1.38% from the similar period in 2017.

Gold price index in August 2018 went down by 1.41% over the previous month, by 0.93% from December 2017 and moved up by 0.33% over the same period last year. US dollar price changed sharply in the world market, but with the flexible operation of the State Bank of Vietnam, the VND/USD exchange rate fluctuated in the range of 3%, in line with the domestic and international market situation. The US dollar price index in August 2018 grew by 1.12% over the previous month and by 2.43% compared to December 2017 and by 2.44% over the same period in 2017.

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

d) Carriage of passengers and cargos

Generally, in eight months of 2018, passenger carriage reached 3047.1 million passengers, a rise of 10.3% over the corresponding period last year and135.1 billion passengers-kilometers, a rise of 10.4%, of which passengers carried by road achieved 2875.7 million passengers, a rise of 10.5% and 93.9 billion passengers-kilometers, a rise of 10.7%; by inland waterway: 127.8 million passengers, up 6.3% and 2.4 billion passengers-kilometers, up 6.6%; by seaway: 4.9 million passengers, 6.4% increase and 290.2 million passengers-kilometers, 6.9% growth; by airway: 33.3 million passengers, an increase of 12.8% and 36.2 billion passengers-kilometers, an increase of 12.2%. Only passenger carriage by railway reached 5.4 million passengers, a drop of 22.3% and 2.3 billion passengers-kilometers, a decline of 17.7%.

Generally, in eight months, cargo carriage gained 1071.1 million tons, up 9.6% from the same period last year and 199.2 billion tons-kilometers, up 7.1%, of which the domestic transport reached 1048.5 million tons, increasing by 9.7% and 107.7 billion tons-kilometers, by 9.7%; overseas transport reached 22.5 million tons, moving up by 2.8% and 91.5 billion tons-kilometers, by 4.1%. By types of transport, cargo transport by road obtained 826.9 million tons, a rise of 10.5% over the same period last year and 54.5 billion tons-kilometers, up 11.8%; by inland waterway: 189.5 million tons, up 7.3% and 40 billion tons-kilometers, an increase of 7.4%; by seaway: 51.1 million tons, going up by 4.9% and 101.8 billion tons-kilometers, climbing by 4.7%; by railway: 3.3 million tons, a decline of 10% and 2.3 billion tons-kilometers, a decrease of 1.3%; by airway: 235.4 thousand tons, up 22.1% and 620.8 million tons-kilometers, up 19.5%.

+ Carriage of passengers and cargos

e) International visitors to Vietnam

Generally, in eight months of this year, international visitors to Vietnam was estimated to reach 10403.9 thousand arrivals, a rise of 22.8% compared with the same period last year, of which visitors coming by airway gained 8422.3 thousand arrivals, moving up by 17.3%; by road: 1798.9 thousand arrivals, rising by 62.1%; by seaway: 182.7 thousand arrivals, a growth of 1.6%.

In eight months, visitors from Asia reached 8034.9 thousand arrivals, accounting for 77.2% of the total visitors to Vietnam, increasing by 27% over the identical period last year. Visitors from the Europe reached an estimate of 1404 thousand arrivals, up 9.8% from the same period last year. Visitors from the Americas reached 636.4 thousand arrivals, increasing by 12.6% over the corresponding period last year. Visitors from the Australia gained 300.7 thousand arrivals, increasing by 7.4% from the same period in 2017. Visitors from the Africa achieved 27.9 thousand arrivals, growing by 20.4% over the same period in 2017.

+ International visitors to Vietnam

7. Social issues

a) Farmers’ food shortage

Generally, in eight months of 2018, the whole country had 99.2 thousand households suffering from food shortage, a decrease of 38.7% from the same period last year, corresponding to 395.8 thousand persons suffering from food shortage, a decline of 40.4%. 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 more than 7.4 thousand tons of grain and 1.6 billion dongs.

b) Epidemic diseases and food poisoning

Generally, in eight months of 2018, the whole country had 30.5 thousand cases of hand, foot, mouth disease; 42.6 thousand cases of hemorrhagic fever (9 cases died); 411 cases of typhoid; 592 cases of virus encephalitis (13 cases died); 17 cases of meningococcal disease (1 case died); 477 cases of whooping cough (1 case died); 71 human cases of streptococcus suis infection (6 cases died); and 43 cases died of rabies and 1502 persons suffering from food poisoning (8 persons died).

Total number of alive HIV-infected persons over the country as of August 15, 2018 was 208.4 thousand persons and 92.4 thousand cases turned to AIDS. The number of persons died of HIV/AIDS nationwide as of above time-point was 98.03 thousand persons.

c) Traffic accidents

Generally, in eight months of 2018, 11782 traffic accidents occurred nationwide, including 6086 cases of traffic accidents from less serious to become and 5696 cases of traffic collisions, causing 5366 deaths, 3249 injuries and 5951 minor injuries. Compared with the same period last year, the number of traffic accidents in eight months of this year declined by 7.8% (number of traffic accidents of differently serious levels reduced by 3.3%; number of traffic collisions decreased by 12.1%); number of death fell by 1%; number of injuries went up by 3% and number of minor injuries moved down by 19.4%. On average, 49 traffic accidents occurred a day in eight months, including 25 traffic accidents from less serious to become and 24 traffic collisions, causing 22 deaths and 13 injuries and 25 minor injuries.

d) Damages caused by natural disasters

Generally, in eight months, natural disasters made 150 people dead and missing; 107 injured; nearly 1.2 thousand houses collapsed and swept away; 44.5 thousand houses flooded, landslided, damaged and roof ripped-off; 161 thousand ha of paddy and crops damaged. The total loss caused by natural disasters was estimated at over 7 trillion dongs.

e) Environment protection, fire and explosion prevention

Generally, in eight months, 9718 cases of violating regulations of environment protection were found over the country, of which 9074 cases were treated with total fine of over 135.4 billion dongs.

Generally, in eight months, in the whole country, there were 2738 fire and explosion cases, causing 77 deaths and 201 injuries, with an estimated damage of about 1442 billion dongs.

GENERAL STATISTICS OFFICE

[1] In eight months of 2017, the mining and quarrying decreased by 7.7% compared with the same period in the previous year; the manufacturing increased by 11.6%; the production and distribution of electricity increased by 8.7%; the water supply and waste treatment grew by 6.7%.

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

[3] In eight months of 2017, the number of newly registered enterprises increased by 16.3% from the similar period in the previous year; the registered capital grew by 44.8%; average registered capital per enterprise went up by 24.5%.

[4] The number of  enterprises temporarily suspended operation without registering or waiting for dissolution increased highly, one of reasons for this was that business registration offices over the country were reviewing, standardizing data, eliminating enterprises which have been no longer in operation for a long time.

[5] As estimated, trade surplus in July was US$ 300 million.

[6] Of which trade surplus with the United State was US$ 21.5 billion, up 1.6% from the same period last year; trade surplus with EU reached US$ 18.8 billion, up 10.7%; trade deficit with South Korea was US$ 19 billion, a decline of 9.6%; trade deficit with China was US$ 18 billion, a decrease of 0.1%; trade deficit with ASEAN was US$ 4 billion, reducing by 2.7%.