Reports on the socio-economic situation released by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam in April also showed that the IIP witnessed an 11.4% annual increase in the first four months of the year. The index of industrial production (IIP) in April saw an increase of 9.4% over the same period in 2017.
Industrial production achieves impressive growth in April
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In addition, the electricity production and distribution sector grew 9.7%, contributing 0.9 percentage point, and water supply and waste management grew 5.5%, contributing 0.1 percentage point. Meanwhile, the mining sector decreased by 1.2%, contributing 0.2 percentage points.
In April, raw steel and iron witnessed the largest output expansion of 38.2%, followed by synthetic cloth (up 26.2%), powder milk (20.7%) and television sets (17.5%).
The GSO economists said that the encouraging IIP growth in these four months, double than what was recorded in the same period last year, was spurred by the significant rise in the industrial consumption index in the first quarter of the year. It rose by 13.9%, considerably higher than the 5.5% during the same period last year.
This significant rise in the industrial consumption index also resulted in IIP increases in several industries. Among them were mobile phones with an 89% rise, motorised vehicles at 58.4%, television sets at 41.8%, and paper production at 20.8%.
Other sectors that posted industrial production hikes during the same period were leather and footwear (24.7%), food for aquatic products (23.9%), rolled steel (17.3%), chemical paints (17.8%) and electricity production (11.1%).
Moreover, as of April 1, the inventory index increased by 11.3%, lower than the 13.9% growth recorded during the same period last year. Industrial products that showed lower levels of inventory included furniture (39.5%), tobacco (19.9%), electronic equipment (14.2%), and chemical goods (11.8%). The number of labourers working for industrial enterprises rose year-on-year by 5.5%, according to the GSO.
Surges were also recorded in major industrial products such as iron and steel (38.2%), fabric (26.2%), powdered milk (20.7%), feed for aquaculture (19%), television (17.5%), and processed aquatic products (11.8%).
The northern province of Bac Ninh led the nation with IPI growth of 33.4%, followed by Hai Phong (24%), Vinh Phuc (13.5%), Thai Nguyen (12.1%), Hai Duong (10.7%), Hanoi and Dong Nai (8.1%), Da Nang (8%), Binh Duong (7.9%), Can Tho (7.3%), Quang Ninh (6.5%), and Ho Chi Minh City (6.1%).
As of April 1, the number of workers in industrial enterprises increased 3.9% compared to the same period last year. The number of workers in State-owned enterprises dropped 1.1% while those in non-State and foreign-invested businesses went up 4.3% and 4.5%, respectively.
The number of workers in provinces and cities with large-scale industry also saw increases, such as Can Tho (22.9%), Hai Phong (16.3%), Bac Ninh (13.6%), Thai Nguyen (7.9%), Binh Duong (6.8%), Dong Nai (5.3%), and Ho Chi Minh City (0.4%).
