Retail sales up 9.5% in January

If inflation were excluded, the amount marked a year-on-year increase of 8.4%, a report of the General Statistics Office (GSO) revealed.

Retail sales of goods topped more than VND272 trillion (US$11.93 billion), up 3.5% month-on-month and 8.3% year-on-year as domestic firms focused on stockpiling goods to meet rising demand of local consumers for the forthcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, GSO said.

The sectors recording a positive revenue increase include home appliances (up 8%), food and foodstuff (up 7.5%) and transport services (up 5.6%).

Meanwhile, retail sales in accommodation, restaurant and catering services experienced a yearly increase of 15% to VND45.1 trillion (US$198 million), thanks to a strong increase in the number of international and domestic tourists and a rising demand for restaurant and catering services.

Some localities that posted positive accommodation, restaurant and catering sale in January were the northern province of Quang Ninh (30%), central Thanh Hoa province (15.2%), HCM City (9%) and the capital city of Hanoi (8.5%).

In the first month of this year, revenue from tourism services also saw significant year-on-year growth of 39.3% to VND3.9 trillion (US$171 million), with some provinces and cities recording strong growth, such as Ninh Binh (76%), Quang Ninh (46%), HCM City (44%), Bac Ninh (34%) and Hanoi (33%).

The reviewed strong increase was attributed to the positive influence of the country’s policies and measures on attracting visitors and effectiveness of its tourism promotion campaigns, GSO said.

The sales of other services during January reached more than VND40.1 trillion (US$1.76 million), a hike of 10% compared to a year ago.

The annual growth rate (excluding the price factor) of the country’s total revenue from retail sales of goods and services for the period from now to 2020 will average at 13% per year, and rise to 14% in 2021-25. The value will reach some VND5.8 quadrillion by 2020, VND11 quadrillion by 2025 and VND44 quadrillion by 2035.

These figures were revealed in the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s draft strategy on domestic trade development, which is being publicised for recommendations.

Domestic economic sector will account for some 80% of the country’s total retail sales revenue by 2020, while the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector will make up about 20% before rising to 70% by 2025 as per off the draft strategy.