Vietnam posts 8.02% GDP, fastest in ASEAN

THE HANOI TIMES — Vietnam’s economy outperformed its Southeast Asian peers in 2025 with a GDP growth of 8.02%, driven mainly by the services sector and industrial production.

Nguyen Thi Huong, Director General of the National Statistics Office, revealed the figure during a press conference held today [January 5], adding that this was the second-highest rate in the 2011–2025 period after the 8.12% recorded in 2022.

Vietnam's GDP in the fourth quarter of 2025 rose by 8.46% year on year. 

"The economy maintained a pattern of each quarter outperforming the previous one throughout the year," Huong said.  

According to Huong, Vietnam’s economic growth of more than 8% in 2025 stood out against a global backdrop marked by ongoing volatility, particularly trade tensions and reciprocal tariff policies imposed by the US.

"This was the highest growth rate among ASEAN countries and placed Vietnam among the world’s leading high-growth economies," she noted.

With this performance, average GDP growth in the 2021–2025 period reached about 6.3% a year, higher than the 6.2% recorded in the previous five-year term.

At current prices, GDP in 2025 was estimated at $514 billion, an increase of $38 billion from the previous year. GDP per capita reached $5,026, up $326 from 2024’s level of $4,700, moving Vietnam into the group of upper-middle-income countries.

On inflation, average CPI growth in 2025 stood at 3.31% compared with the previous year. Services remained the largest contributor to value added in the economy, accounting for more than 51.08%. According to the statistics office, value added in this sector rose by 8.62% year on year.

Industry and construction grew by 8.95% and contributed 43.62% to total value added, while agriculture, forestry and fisheries accounted for 5.3% of growth.

For the first time, Vietnam recorded a record trade turnover exceeding $930 billion, up 18.2 %from 2024. Exports reached $475 billion, an increase of 17%, with 36 products each generating more than $1 billion in export value.

In 2025, nearly 297,500 enterprises were newly registered or resumed operations, up 27.4% year on year. On average, about 24,800 businesses entered or re-entered the market each month, while nearly 18,900 exited.

Business sentiment also improved. In the fourth quarter of 2025, the proportion of enterprises reporting more favorable conditions than the previous quarter rose by 1.1%, while the shares citing stable conditions or greater difficulties declined by 0.2% and 0.9% respectively.

Looking ahead to 2026, Vietnam has set a target of double-digit growth while maintaining macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation and ensuring major economic balances.

Huong noted that this would be a major challenge and would require strong measures to accelerate public investment disbursement, particularly for key national projects.

At the same time, authorities need to resolve long-standing stalled projects and continue deep economic restructuring, alongside boosting exports and developing the domestic market.

For businesses, she added that regulators should adopt competitive incentive policies and create a more favorable business environment to attract large-scale and high-technology projects.

“Vietnam needs selective mechanisms to attract foreign investment in high-potential areas that can create new growth drivers, such as chips, semiconductors, innovation and green hydrogen,” Huong noted.