GDP in the first quarter of 2020 reached 3.82% compared to the same period last year. The Covid-19 outbreak is one of the reasons for the lower GDP growth rate compared to the same period of previous years.

On 27/2, the General Statistics Office held a press conference to announce socio-economic statistics for the first quarter of 2020. Accordingly, the GDP of the first quarter of 2020 reached 3.82%. In the overall growth of the economy, the agriculture, forestry and fisheries increased by 0.08%; industry and construction sector increased by 5.15% and service sector increased by 3.2%.

“In the context of the world economic downturn, crude oil prices plummeted, geopolitical tensions increased. Especially, the widespread Covid -19 outbreak has severely affected the economy. Domestically, the Government and the Prime Minister put the first priority on the prevention and control of outbreak, sacrificing economic benefits to ensure the lives and health of the people; our economy will continue to grow, not falling into a negative growth rate showing the effectiveness in the drastic direction of the Government, the Prime Minister together with the involvement of all levels, sectors, business communities and people to fight disease outbreaks and maintain production and business activities.” said Mr. Nguyen Bich Lam, General Director of General Statistics Office.

According to the General Statistics Office, in the structure of the economy in the first quarter of 2020, the agriculture, forestry and fisheries accounted for 10.11%; industry and construction accounted for 35.52%; service sector accounts for 43.71%.

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries in the first quarter of 2020 faced many difficulties due to the impact of African swine fever; drought, saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta. The risk of avian influenza outbreaks is high and the complicated Covid-19 outbreak has a negative impact on the production and import-export of agricultural products. Forestry production has developed stably, the rate of increase in production of aquatic products in the first quarter of 2020 is slower than the same period last year.

The business community faced many difficulties due to the direct impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, the number of enterprises temporarily suspending their business of up to 18.6 thousand enterprises, an increase of 26% over the same period last year. However, the results of surveys on business trends of manufacturing and processing enterprises showed that businesses expected Covid-19 outbreak to end soon, therefore they forecast production and business situation in the second quarter would be better than the first quarter.

Trade and service activities in the first three months of 2020 were less active due to the impact of Covid-19 outbreak. Consumers refrain from shopping in public places, traveling and eating out. The number of international visitors to Vietnam in the first quarter of 2020 decreased by 18.1% compared to the same period last year, of which the decline was in most markets, the largest decline was concentrated in major markets such as China, South Korea and the U.S.

The import and export turnover of many Vietnamese products was significantly affected by the Covid-19 outbreak that is spreading fast among leading trading partners such as China, Korea, Japan, EU and the United States; total import and export turnover of goods in the first quarter of 2020 reached USD 115.34 billion, a decrease of 0.7% over the same period last year, of which exports increased by 0.5%, imports decreased by 1.9%; trade surplus in the first quarter of this year is estimated at USD 2.8 billion.

Average CPI in the first quarter of 2020 increased by 5.56% compared to the same period in 2019.

Kylie Nguyen