Customers shop for food at the Go!Market supermarket in Ha Noi. — VNS Photo Thu Tra

The capital city’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth was estimated at 3.72 per cent in the first quarter of this year, the slowest pace over the past few years, the municipal Statistics Office has said.

The growth was much lower than 7 per cent seen in the same period of 2019 due to the severe impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, hitting a wide range of sectors including import-export, tourism, transportation, processing and manufacturing as well as restaurant and catering services.

During the period, the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector saw a decline of 1.17 per cent compared to an increase of 3.19 per cent in the first quarter of last year.

The city's industrial production in January-March period experienced a modest growth of 5.1 per cent year-on-year, lower than 7 per cent recorded in the same period last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic’s influence that has disrupted the supply of Chinese input materials for domestic production.

Other sectors which suffered a year-on-year decline in three months were accommodation and catering services with 22 per cent; entertainment with 7.4 per cent; administration and supporting services with 6 per cent besides transportation and logistics sectors with 5.15 per cent.

Meanwhile, the wholesale and retail sector has maintained positive growth, thanks to a shift to online sales from traditional shops.

According to the office, the city’s consumer price index (CPI) in March rose 0.1 per cent over February and 4.4 per cent over last year’s same month.

The capital’s average CPI for the first three months increased 5.23 per cent against the same period last year.

Among 11 groups of products and services in the CPI basket, a decline was recorded in seven groups in March including transportation services (4.2 per cent); culture, entertainment and tourism (3 per cent); restaurants and catering services (1 per cent); housing and building material (0.54 per cent) and beverage and tobacco (0.25 per cent). — VNS