HANOI, Jan 6 — Vietnam's gross domestic product grew 7.09 per cent last year, greater than the 5.05 per cent expansion in 2023, driven by strong exports and robust foreign investment inflows, government data showed today.
Vietnam's GDP grew 7.55 per cent in the fourth quarter, the General Statistics Office said in a report.
The Southeast Asian country, a regional manufacturing hub, has benefited from a recovery in global consumption despite being badly affected by Asia's strongest typhoon last year. Exports in 2024 grew 14.3 per cent from a year earlier to US$405.53 billion (RM1.8 trillion), led by shipments of electronics, smartphones, garments and farm produce, the GSO said in its report.
Imports grew 16.7 per cent to US$380.76 billion (RM1.7 trillion) in 2024, resulting in a trade surplus of US$24.77 billion (RM1.1 trillion), according to the GSO.
The strong rebound in growth in 2024 was also helped by the government increasing coal imports for power generation to avoid a repeat of previous years' electricity shortages.
Vietnam has set an official GDP growth target of 6.5 per cent to 7.0 per cent for this year. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh last month said Vietnam would aim for growth of 8.0 per cent.
— Reuters
