Tet responsible for Hanoi’s low industrial production in January

Hanoi's Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in January declined by 24.9% month-on-month and 14.2% year-on-year, mainly due to the one-week Lunar New Year holiday in January and the boost in production last December in preparation for the 7-day long holiday, according to the municipal statistics office.

Illustrative photo.

Upon breaking down, the mining industry’s output saw decreased by 18.2% month-on-month and 32.1% year-on-year, while the manufacturing and processing industry declined by 25.4% and 15.4%, respectively.

Production and distribution of electricity fell 19.5% month-on-month but rose 3.7% year-on-year, while water supply, sewage treatment and water collection was down 18.9% and 8%, respectively.

Major industrial subsectors that saw their output down in January were food processing with 21.7% month-on-month and 19.8% year-on-year, beverage with 48.1% and 16.8%; textile with 13.6% and 29.5%; transportation vehicle production with 12.2% and 13.3%, among others.

Meanwhile, Hanoi’s consumer price index (CPI) expanded 1.07% month-on-month and 6.26% year-on-year, according to the office.

Statistics revealed ten out of 11 commodity groups, which are components of the basket for CPI calculation, witnessed monthly increases in prices, with housing, water and electricity supply, and construction materials posting the highest increase of 1.75%, mainly due to high demand for building and repairing houses before Tet; followed by food and catering services with 1.68%; transportation with 0.53%; medicine and healthcare services with 0.45%; among others.

Total retail sales of consumer goods and services in Hanoi in January are estimated at VND51.4 trillion (US$2.22billion), up 5.8% month-on-month and 11.7% year-on-year.

Hanoi’s authority approved 68 new foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth US$30.2 million in the first month of 2020.

Additionally, seven existing projects have been injected an additional US$71.4 million during the month, while foreign investors contributed US$40 million in capital to other projects.

Meanwhile, the number of foreign tourists coming to Hanoi reached 389,000, down 4.9% year-on-year, while that of domestic tourists stood at 1.08 million, up 11.6%. Revenue from tourism activities in Hanoi during the month is estimated at VND6.51 trillion (US$281.4 million), up 7.1% year-on-year.  

In January, Hanoi’s exports reached US$1.04 billion, down 17.4% year-on-year, and of the city spent US$2.46 billion on imports, down 11.7%, resulting in a trade deficit of US$1.42 billion.

The city's state budget revenue reached VND26.6 trillion (US$1.15 billion), of the total, revenue from crude oil reached VND230 billion (US$9.94 million), and domestic revenue of VND26.4 trillion (US$1.14 billion).  

Hanoi targets GRDP growth rate of 7.5% onwards in 2020, leading to the average GRDP growth in the 2016 – 2020 period of 7.33% - 7.41% per year, which is in line with the city’s five-year socio-economic development plan.