Retail sales, service revenue increase in two months hinh anh 1Local people shop at a supermarket (Photo: phapluatdansinh.phapluatxahoi.vn)
 
Hanoi (VNA) - The country’s total retail sales and services revenue rose 12.2 percent year-on-year to 793.8 trillion VND (35.2 billion USD) in the first two months of this year.

Retail sales of goods and services reached an estimated 390.8 trillion VND in February, marking a yearly increase of 11.5 percent but a monthly decline of 3 percent, the latest report from the General Statistics Office (GSO) showed.

GSO statistician Vu Manh Ha attributed the two-month retail sales growth, which would be 92.8 percent excluding inflation, to local people’s strong purchasing power during the long-lasting Tet holiday

The retail value of goods topped 613.4 trillion VND, up 15 percent year-on-year and accounting for 77.3 percent of the total. Of which, the sales of food and foodstuffs increased by 15 percent, home appliances 14 percent, and garments and textiles 13.2 percent.

Localities recording a significant retail sales increase included the central provinces of Ha Tinh and Quang Nam with 19.4 percent and 16 percent, respectively; the southern province of Long An with 17 percent; the northern port city of Hai Phong with 14 percent; HCM City with 13 percent and Hanoi with 11 percent. 

From January to February, restaurant and accommodation revenues were 90.2 trillion VND, surging 5.7 percent against the same period last year and making up 11.4 percent of the total with positive revenue growth seen in several localities such as Hai Phong (16.5 percent); the southern city of Can Tho (13.2 percent); the central provinces of Khanh Hoa and Quang Nam (12 percent and 10 percent, respectively).

Tourism revenues stood at 8 trillion VND, up 7.8 percent, the office said, adding that revenue from other services, which equaled 10.3 percent of the total, witnessed a yearly rise of 5 percent to 82.2 trillion VND.

In 2018, the nation’s total goods retail sales and service revenues rose 11.7 percent on-year to nearly 4.4 quadrillion VND. Specifically, its goods retail sales surged 12.4 percent to over 3.3 quadrillion VND.

Under the domestic trade development strategy, total sales of goods and services would grow by 13 percent each year through 2020 and by 14 percent per year in the 2021-25 period.-VNA
VNA