Q1 retail revenue reaches US$50 billion

The office’s data shows that the total sales of goods and services in March, the month after the Lunar New Year (Tet holiday), rose by 0.9% over the previous month to VND392.2 trillion, a year-on-year rise of 12.1%.

Last month saw sales of goods increase at a faster month-on-month rate of 0.8%. At the same time, sales continued to grow for accommodation and food, tourism and other services by between 0.6% and 1.5%.

Between January and March, Vietnam’s goods retail sales stood at VND910.4 trillion (US$39.2 billion), accounting for 76.8% of the total and up 13.4% compared with the corresponding period of the preceding year.

During the three months, sales of food and foodstuffs, home appliances, garments, vehicles, and stationery increased between 10.8% and 13.5% against the year-ago period.

The provinces and cities that registered strong retail sales growth included Hanoi, Phu Tho, Bac Ninh and Haiphong in northern Vietnam; Quang Nam and Ha Tinh in central Vietnam; and Binh Duong, HCMC, Long An and Tra Vinh in the southern part of the country.

Lodging and catering service revenue was an estimated VND140 trillion, up 9.2% over the three-month period of 2018, while tourism revenue stood at VND11.3 trillion, up 12.8%, according to the office.

In 2018, the country’s total revenue from goods and services advanced 11.7% year-on-year to nearly VND4.396 quadrillion (US$191 billion), of which its goods retail sales surged 12.4% to over VND3.306 quadrillion.