The country’s total retail sales and services revenue reached VND2.24 quadrillion (US$98.6 billion) in the first seven months of this year, a year on year increase of 10 per cent.

The revenue, excluding the price factor, gained a year-on-year increase of 8.7 per cent in the first seven months, 0.3 percentage points higher than the growth rate in the first seven months of 2016, reported the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Of these, revenue of retail sales reached the highest at VND1.68 quadrillion ($74 billion), accounting for the three-fourths of the total revenue, a year-on-year surge of 20 per cent.

GSO’s domestic trade expert Vu Manh Ha said growth in purchasing power of the people during the first seven months was due to surge in demand for accommodation and catering services in July because of high school graduation examinations.

In addition, the volume of foreign and domestic tourists rose sharply in the summer months, Ha said. Therefore, the revenue from accommodation and catering services in July went up by 11.3 per cent while the revenue from tourism and travelling services managed the highest growth rate at 15.1 per cent.

During the first seven months, the total revenue from accommodation and catering services stood at VND278.6 trillion, an increase of 11.6 per cent against the revenue in the same period last year.

The increase was higher than the growth rate of 8.8 per cent in the first seven months of 2016.

The revenue from the tourism and travel sector showed a growth rate of 9.5 per cent year-on-year in the first seven months of 2017 to VND19.8 trillion. — VNS