A worker inspects equipment at a foreign-invested company in the northern port city of Hai Phong. — VNA/VNS Photo Danh Lam

HA NOI (VNS) — The country's industrial production improved this year with an estimated year-on-year rise of 7.6 per cent, higher than last year's 5.9 per cent increase, reported the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The industrial production index (IIP) showed a tendency to go up in the remaining months of this year, the office said. It also noted that the country's IIP rose by 5.3 per cent in the first quarter. It continued to increase by 6.9 per cent, 7.8 per cent and 10.1 per cent in the second, third and fourth quarters.

GSO attributed this year's IIP growth to the significant rebound of the processing and manufacturing sector, which recorded a strong rise of 11.1 per cent in consumption. Another factor that boosted the IIP growth was the effective contribution of over 7,000 new enterprises that became operational this year.

Some industrial products posting high IIP increases during the year included handsets (up by 167.5 per cent), automobiles (29 per cent), fresh milk (21 per cent) and footwear (19 per cent). Televisions (18 per cent), cloth (16.9 per cent) and electricity (12.7 per cent) were included as well.

However, other products saw lower growth rates, such as animal feed, which only went up by 3.2 per cent, and crude oil, which went up by 1.8 per cent. Meanwhile, some products recorded industrial production decreases, such as motorbikes, which went down by 8.6 per cent; liquid petroleum gas, by 8.3 per cent; and powdered milk, by 3.8 per cent.

The processing and manufacturing sector, which comprises approximately 70 per cent of the country's total industrial output, still experienced a high increase in inventory index at 10 per cent despite the encouraging consumption improvement. This observation proved that enterprises still contend with difficulties in terms of selling their products.

Major industries that showed higher levels of inventory included paper production (89.5 per cent), shipbuilding (55.8 per cent), beverages (41.1 per cent) and food processing (40.1 per cent). The metal production industry (38.3 per cent) indicated the same performance. — VNS