Viet Nam’s total revenue from retail trade and services rose 10 per cent year-on-year to exceed VND1 quadrillion (US$46.57 billion) in the first quarter of this year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

If inflation were excluded, the increase would be 8.6 per cent, much higher than 6.4 per cent growth recorded in the same period last year, GSO said.

The growth also reflected high purchasing power, which contributed significantly to gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7.38 per cent – a record in the first quarter in the past 10 years, GSO experts said.

Head of the GSO Nguyen Bich Lam said the strong consumption also signaled that the economy is on track for stable development.

In the first three months, retail sales of goods, which accounted for more than 75 per cent of total retail trade and services revenue, topped $35.22 billion, up 10.5 per cent year-on-year.

Sectors posting a positive revenue increase included food and foodstuff (up 12 per cent), textiles and garments (13 per cent), home appliances (up 11 per cent) and transport services (up 8.4 per cent).

Meanwhile, retail sales in accommodation, restaurant and catering services surged by 9 per cent year-on-year to VND128.9 trillion ($5.72 billion).

Some localities that posted positive accommodation, restaurant and catering sales in the period were the three central provinces of Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan and Thanh Hoa with respective rises of 14 per cent, 13 per cent and 11 per cent, the capital city (10 per cent) and HCM City (9.5 per cent).

From January to March, revenue from tourism services saw significant yearly growth of 30 per cent to VND10.2 trillion ($454 million), with some provinces and cities recording strong growth, such as HCM City (32 per cent), Binh Dinh (29 per cent), Kien Giang (28 per cent), Hai Phong (23 per cent) beside to Ha Noi (15 per cent), Thanh Hoa (9 per cent) and Khanh Hoa (6 per cent).

The sales of other services in the first quarter exceeded VND116.3 trillion ($5.16 billion), up 5 per cent compared to a year ago with modest increases from 1 per cent to 5 per cent recorded in several localities including Nghe An, Can Tho, Hai Duong, HCM City and Ha Noi. — VNS