Vietnam’s Economy Expands 7.09% in 2024, Boosted by Strong Exports and Foreign Investment
Vietnam’s economy grew 7.09% in 2024, driven by strong exports and robust foreign investment inflows, according to government data released on Monday. The gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 7.55% in the fourth quarter, the fastest quarterly growth in more than two years.
Exports in 2024 grew 14.3% from a year earlier to $405.53 billion, led by shipments of electronics, smartphones, clothing, and farm produce. Imports grew 16.7% to $380.76 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $24.77 billion.
Foreign investment inflows into Vietnam rose 9.4% last year to $25.35 billion. Average consumer prices in 2024 were up 3.63%, while industrial production output rose 8.4%.
The strong rebound in growth was also helped by the government increasing coal imports for power generation to avoid a repeat of the electricity shortages of previous years. Coal imports in 2024 rose 24.8% from a year earlier to 63.8 million metric tons, while electricity output in the year rose 9.6% to 293.3 billion kilowatt hours.
Vietnam has set an official GDP growth target of 6.5% to 7.0% for this year. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh last month said it would aim for growth of 8.0%. Oxford Economics expected Vietnam’s GDP to grow 6.5% this year, but warned that the momentum of services exports seemed to be slowing.
The General Statistics Office (GSO) head, Nguyen Thi Huong, said, “This is a positive result amid difficulties including natural disasters and is a good foundation for 2025 growth.” She added that Vietnam was among countries concerned over Donald Trump’s plans for his second term as U.S. President, which could lead to new tariffs on imports into the U.S.
