The Q3 Economic Report Card
Strong growth, even stronger potential
Good morning! Welcome to the latest edition of the Vietnam Weekly exclusively for paying subscribers, written by Ho Chi Minh City-based reporter Mike Tatarski. The newsletter is entirely supported by such subscriptions.
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On to the news
Vietnam’s third-quarter GDP growth came in this week and beat expectations: 7.4% year-on-year, the best quarterly growth in two years and higher than the 6.4% expansion seen through the first half of 2024.
This comes despite the significant losses caused by Typhoon Yagi, with damages now estimated at US$3.3 billion, more than double initial post-storm estimates.
Nikkei Asia noted that exports led this surge, rising 15.8% quarter-on-quarter to hit almost US$109 billion.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) remains robust as well, with the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) reporting US$24.8 billion in funding for the year through September, an 11.6% year-on-year increase. Manufacturing and processing, unsurprisingly, accounted for the lion’s share: 63.1% of total registered FDI.
September, according to MPI, saw the highest figure so far this year, at US$4.3 billion.
Singapore, China, and South Korea remain the top source countries by value, while China has invested in the most new projects, accounting for almost 30% of the total.
It’s been clear for some time that Vietnam’s economy is heavily dependent on exports and FDI - both of which are in good shape at the moment. What about moving forward?