HCM City recorded 228.91 trillion VND in total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue in January - February (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – Retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue in Ho Chi Minh City totalled 228.91 trillion VND (10 billion USD) in the first two months of 2021, a year-on-year increase of 3.6 percent, the municipal Department of Industry and Trade has reported.
That includes 110.67 trillion VND posted in February; 6.4 percent lower than January but still 4.7 percent higher than February 2020.
Economists held that although the Lunar New Year holiday fell in February, consumer purchasing power was nonetheless down sharply as a result of the resurgence of COVID-19 in Vietnam in late January.
The new outbreak led to lockdowns in certain residential areas of HCM City and a reluctance among people to engage in celebrations and entertainment. Incomes are still declining due to the pandemic, which also discouraged consumption.
Meanwhile, HCM City earned more than 7.98 billion USD from exports in the first two months, up 25.1 percent year-on-year.
Excluding crude oil, overseas shipments topped 7.6 billion USD during the period, rising 26.5 percent from a year earlier.
Agricultural products brought home 549.7 million USD (up 2.6 percent), forestry items 224.6 million USD (up 160.4 percent), and industrial products 259.2 million USD (down 83.8 percent).
China remained the largest export market of the city’s businesses, with almost 1.8 billion USD worth (up 31.6 percent), followed by the US with over 1.19 billion USD (up 15.1 percent).
In February alone, export turnover grew 2.5 percent month-on-month to 4.04 billion USD. Non-crude oil shipments rose slightly, by 0.5 percent, to 3.8 billion USD, statistics showed./.
