Vietnam's index of industrial production (IIP) in the five months of the year increased year-on-year by 9.2 percent, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said.

The GSO said the rise of the IIP indicated the country's industrial production had stabilised, targeting a growth rate of 15.2 percent before the global economic slowdown.

It said the relatively high growth rate was due to a high consumption rate of 12 to 14 percent in the past three months, compared with the same period last year. Among these, vehicles saw the highest growth of 42 percent, electronics 31 percent, metal production 24 percent and leather 15 percent.

The office said the decrease in inventory index by 11.5 percent contributed to the industrial production recovery.

The chemical production inventory was lower than the average level of 9.2 percent, cloth by 3.8 percent, and rubber and plastic production 1.4 percent. The inventory of electric equipment and tobacco fell by 2 percent and 24 percent respectively.

GSO said vehicles reported an inventory increase of 32 percent, including 72,400 automobiles, while that of leather shoes was 130.7 million pairs, mobile phones 88.8 million units, TV 1.6 million and fresh milk 428 million litres.

However, other sectors saw low IIP such as raw steel, which rose only 1.5 percent, while natural gas fell 0.6 percent and motorbikes fell 14.2 percent.

The IIP posted a 9.1 percent increase in the first quarter of this year and a 9.4 percent rise in April.-VNA