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Retail sales of goods, services rise 22% in January
The national total retail sales of goods and services last month reached nearly VND150 trillion (US$7.1 billion), a year-on-year increase of 22.1 per cent, the General Statistics Office reported.
The growth would be 8.9 per cent if the factor of rising prices were excluded, the office said.
Of this number, trade business gained VND118.3 trillion ($5.6 billion), surging by 23.1 per cent over the same month last year, and retail sales of hotels and restaurants was up 17.6 per cent to VND16.4 trillion ($781 million).
The service sector gained VND13.6 trillion ($647 million), a year-on-year rise of 19.6 per cent. Revenue from the tourist sector was VND1.5 trillion ($71 million), up 14.5 per cent against the same period last year.
Last year, the country's total retail sales of goods and services jumped 24.5 per cent against the previous year to VND1,561 trillion ($80 billion).
The retail industry annually contributes more than 15 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and employs more than 5.4 million workers, representing over 10 per cent of the total workforce.
Currently, modern retail chains currently account for 20 per cent of distribution in the country. This level is low compared with regional countries.
However, experts have predicted this figure will grow to around 31.2 per cent by 2015.
With a population of more than 80 million, Viet Nam's retail market remains very attractive to investors, especially those abroad. Retail therefore will provide one of the fastest growing and most inherently scalable investment areas in the country.
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