Customers shop for fruits and vegetables at Chu Van An Co.opmart in HCM City. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam’s total revenuefrom retail trade and services rose 10 percent year-on-year to exceed 1quadrillion VND (44.05 billion USD) in the first quarter of 2018, reported the GeneralStatistics Office (GSO).
If inflation were excluded, the increase wouldbe 8.6 percent, much higher than 6.4 percent growth recorded in the same periodlast year, GSO said.
The growth also reflected high purchasing power,which contributed significantly to gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7.38percent – a record in the first quarter in the past 10 years, GSO said.
GSO General Director Nguyen Bich Lam said thestrong consumption also signaled that the economy is on track for stabledevelopment.
In the first three months, retail sales ofgoods, which accounted for more than 75 percent of total retail trade andservices revenue, topped 35.22 billion USD, up 10.5 percentyear-on-year.
Sectors posting a positive revenue increaseincluded food and foodstuff (up 12 percent), textiles and garments (13percent), home appliances (up 11 percent) and transport services (up 8.4percent).
Meanwhile, retail sales in accommodation,restaurant and catering services surged by 9 percent year-on-year to 128.9trillion VND (5.72 billion USD).
Some localities that posted positiveaccommodation, restaurant and catering sales in the period were the threecentral provinces of Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan and Thanh Hoa with respective risesof 14 percent, 13 percent and 11 percent, the capital city (10 percent) and HCMCity (9.5 percent).
From January to March, revenue from tourismservices saw significant yearly growth of 30 percent to 10.2 trillion VND (454million USD), with some provinces and cities recording strong growth, such asHCM City (32 percent), Binh Dinh (29 percent), Kien Giang (28 percent), Hai Phong(23 percent) beside to Hanoi (15 percent), Thanh Hoa (9 percent) and Khanh Hoa(6 percent).
The sales of other services in the first quarterexceeded 116.3 trillion VND (5.16 billion USD), up 5 percent compared to a yearago with modest increases from 1 percent to 5 percent recorded in severallocalities including Nghe An, Can Tho, Hai Duong, HCM City and Hanoi.-VNA
VNA
