Economy - overview

:

Vietnam is a densely-populated, developing country that in the last 30 years has had to recover from the ravages of war, the loss of financial support from the old Soviet Bloc, and the rigidities of a centrally planned economy. Substantial progress was achieved from 1986 to 1997 in moving forward from an extremely low level of development and significantly reducing poverty. Growth averaged around 9% per year from 1993 to 1997. The 1997 Asian financial crisis highlighted the problems in the Vietnamese economy and temporarily allowed opponents of reform to slow progress towards a market oriented economy. GDP growth of 8.5% in 1997 fell to 6% in 1998 and 5% in 1999. Growth then rose to 7% in 2000-04 even against the background of global recession. Since 2001, however, Vietnamese authorities have reaffirmed their commitment to economic liberalization and international integration. They have moved to implement the structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more competitive, export-driven industries. However, equitization of state-owned enterprises and reduction in the proportion of non-performing loans has fallen behind schedule. Vietnam's membership in the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and entry into force of the US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade in December 2001 have led to even more rapid changes in Vietnam's trade and economic regime. Vietnam's exports to the US doubled in 2002 and again in 2003. Vietnam is working toward accession to the WTO in 2005. Among other benefits, accession will allow Vietnam to take advantage of the phase out of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, which eliminated quotas on textiles and clothing for WTO partners on 1 January 2005. Vietnam is working to promote job creation to keep up with the country's high population growth rate. However, in 2004, high levels of inflation prompted Vietnamese authorities to tighten monetary and fiscal policies.

GDP

:

purchasing power parity - $227.2 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate

:

7.7% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita

:

purchasing power parity - $2,700 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector

:

agriculture: 21.8%
industry: 40.1%
services: 38.1% (2004 est.)

Labour force

:

42.98 million (2004 est.)

Labour force - by occupation

:

agriculture 63%, industry and services 37% (2000 est.)

Unemployment rate

:

1.9% (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line

:

28.9% (2002 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

:

lowest 10%: 3.6%
highest 10%: 29.9% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index

:

36.1 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

:

9.5% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed)

:

36.6% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget

:

revenues: $10.66 billion
expenditures: $13.09 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.8 billion (2004 est.)

Public debt

:

65.9% of GDP (2004 est.)

Agriculture - products

:

paddy rice, coffee, fish and seafood, rubber, cotton, tea, pepper, soybeans, cashews, sugar cane, peanuts, bananas, poultry

Industries

:

food processing, garments, shoes, machine-building, mining, cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil, coal, steel, paper

Industrial production growth rate

:

16% (2004 est.)

Electricity - production

:

34.48 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - consumption

:

32.06 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports

:

0 kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports

:

0 kWh (2002)

Oil - production

:

359,400 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - consumption

:

185,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports

:

NA

Oil - imports

:

NA

Oil - proved reserves

:

650 million bbl (2004 est.)

Natural gas - production

:

1.3 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption

:

1.3 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports

:

0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports

:

0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves

:

192.6 billion cu m (2004)

Current account balance

:

$-2.061 billion (2004 est.)

Exports

:

$23.72 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities

:

crude oil, marine products, rice, coffee, rubber, tea, garments, shoes

Exports - partners

:

US 19.8%, Japan 13.7%, China 8.4%, Australia 7%, Germany 5.7%, Singapore 4.8%, UK 4.6% (2004)

Imports

:

$26.31 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities

:

machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer, steel products, raw cotton, grain, cement, motorcycles

Imports - partners

:

China 13.6%, Japan 11.5%, Singapore 11.5%, Taiwan 10.2%, South Korea 9.8%, Thailand 6.7%, Hong Kong 4.4%, US 4.1%, Malaysia 4.1% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

:

$6.51 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external

:

$16.55 billion (2004 est.)

Economic aid - recipient

:

$2.8 billion in credits and grants pledged by international donors for 2000 (2004)

Currency (code)

:

dong (VND)

Exchange rates

:

dong per US dollar - 15,746 (2004), 15,510 (2003), 15,280 (2002), 14,725 (2001), 14,168 (2000)

Fiscal year

:

calendar year