Total revenue from retail trade and services during the first two months
of 2013 was estimated at 422.2 trillion VND (20.59 billion USD), a
surge of 10.9 percent year-on-year, according to the General Statistical
Office (GSO).
Excluding the price factor, retail sales in January and February rose 3.6 percent year on year, the GSO said.
Trade accounted for the biggest percentage of the increase, hitting
328.2 trillion VND (over 16 billion USD), a yearly increase of 10.4
percent.
The hotel and restaurant sector posted annual growth
of 13 percent, rising to 48.8 trillion VND (2.38 billion USD) and
accounting for 11.6 percent of the country’s total figure.
The services sector grew 14.5 percent to 41.7 trillion VND (2.03 billion USD), making up 89.9 percent.
Notably, the tourism sector recorded a slump of 4.4 percent from a
year earlier to 3.5 trillion VND (170.7 million USD) and accounted for a
modest 0.8 percent.
According to the GSO, the value of retail sales rose by 16 percent in 2012 to 2.324 trillion VND (110.7 billion USD).
Inventories in the manufacturing and processing industries fell this
year from 30 percent in the early months of 2012 to an average of 23
percent for the entire year, patterns expected to repeat in the coming
months.-VNA