National retail sales surge 8.6 percent in first quarter

National retail sales surge 8.6 percent in first quarter hinh anh 1

Customers shop for fruits and vegetables at Chu Van An Co.opmart in HCM City. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam’s total revenue from retail trade and services rose 10 percent year-on-year to exceed 1 quadrillion VND (44.05 billion USD) in the first quarter of 2018, reported the General Statistics Office (GSO).

If inflation were excluded, the increase would be 8.6 percent, much higher than 6.4 percent growth recorded in the same period last year, GSO said.

The growth also reflected high purchasing power, which contributed significantly to gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7.38 percent – a record in the first quarter in the past 10 years, GSO said.

GSO General Director Nguyen Bich Lam said the strong consumption also signaled that the economy is on track for stable development.

In the first three months, retail sales of goods, which accounted for more than 75 percent of total retail trade and services revenue, topped 35.22 billion USD, up 10.5 percent year-on-year.

Sectors posting a positive revenue increase included food and foodstuff (up 12 percent), textiles and garments (13 percent), home appliances (up 11 percent) and transport services (up 8.4 percent).

Meanwhile, retail sales in accommodation, restaurant and catering services surged by 9 percent year-on-year to 128.9 trillion VND (5.72 billion USD).

Some localities that posted positive accommodation, restaurant and catering sales in the period were the three central provinces of Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan and Thanh Hoa with respective rises of 14 percent, 13 percent and 11 percent, the capital city (10 percent) and HCM City (9.5 percent).

From January to March, revenue from tourism services saw significant yearly growth of 30 percent to 10.2 trillion VND (454 million USD), with some provinces and cities recording strong growth, such as HCM 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 quarter exceeded 116.3 trillion VND (5.16 billion USD), up 5 percent compared to a year ago with modest increases from 1 percent to 5 percent recorded in several localities including Nghe An, Can Tho, Hai Duong, HCM City and Hanoi.-VNA

VNA

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