Socio-economic situation in the second quarter and six months of 2019

Vietnamese socio-economy in the first 6 months of 2019 took place in the context of the sluggish growth trend of the world economic with increasing risks and challenges. Recent tensions between major economies caused the world trade and investment, as well as the global business confidence to decline, so the International Monetary Fund (IMF) argued that the international economy must face a period of “high uncertainty” when 70% of the world economy including most developed economies experienced the modest growth[1]. Economic activities in developed countries, especially the Euro area as well as some emerging markets were weaker than expected, international organizations all provide the optimistic forecast about the 2019 world economic growth[2]. Geopolitical hot spots showed signs of complexity and increasingly high tensions. The US imposed intensified sanctions on Iran, the complicated movements of oil price and the US dollar not only challenged for the world economy, but also adversely affected Vietnamese economy. In the country, the economy in the first 6 months of the year continued to change positively, of which the macroeconomic situation was stable, the inflation was controlled at a low level. However, it also faced many difficulties and challenges, including complicated weather conditions affecting crop production and yields, difficulties in livestock activity with increasingly widespread African swine fever, sluggish growth of some key export products, and low disbursement of public investment.

In this situation, the Government and the Prime Minister timely and drastically directed the ministries, agencies and localities to implement synchronously and effectively the goals, tasks and solutions in the resolutions of the Party, the National Assembly, and the Government, especially Resolution No. 01/NQ-CP dated 1^st January, 2019 on the main tasks and solutions to implement the 2019 Socio-Economic Development Plan and State budget estimate. Also at the beginning of the second quarter, the Prime Minister issued Directive No. 09/CT-TTg dated 1^st April, 2019 on solutions to cope with difficulties in production and business, ensuring growth targets in the first 6 months and the whole year of 2019, and regularly monitoring, and checking the situation in each month and every quarter. The achieved results of the sectors and activities in the second quarter and the first 6 months of this year were as follows:

I. ECONOMIC GROWTH

Growth rate of gross domestic product

The gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2019 was estimated to increase by 6.71% over the same period last year, of which the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector, the industry and construction sector, and the service sector increased by 2.19%, 9.14%, and 6.85%, respectively. The growth in the second quarter of 2019 was lower than the growth in the second quarter of 2018 but higher than the growth of the second quarter of years 2011-2017^[3]. From the expenditure approach of the GDP in the second quarter of this year, final consumption increased by 7.01% over the same period last year; capital formation rose 7.54%; exports of goods and services expanded 7.27%; import of goods and services went up 7.38%.

The first 6-month GDP increased by 6.76%, which was lower than the rise in the first 6 months of 2018 but higher than the spread in the first 6 months of years 2011-2017^[4], confirming the timeliness and efficiency of the major tasks and solutions issued by the Government to implement the 2019 Socio-Economic Development Plan; as well as efforts of the ministries/agencies and localities in realizing growth targets. In the overall growth of the economy, the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector, the industry and construction sector, and the service sector increased by 2.39%, 8.93%, 6.69%, which contributing 6%, 51.8%, and 42.2% to the overall growth, respectively.

In agriculture, forestry and fishery sector, the agricultural activities faced difficulties due to the widespread spread of African swine fever, so it only increased by 1.3%, much lower than the increase of 3.07% in the 6 months of 2018, contributing 0.17 percentage points to the total added value growth of the whole economy; the forestry activities increased by 4.15% but contributed only 0.03 percentage points due to its low proportion. The highlight of this sector was that the fishery activities reached an impressive growth at 6.45% due to high demand in the market, marking the highest growth rate of the first 6 months in the past 9 years[5], and contributing 0.21 percentage points.

In the industry and construction sector, the industrial activities in the first 6 months of 2019 maintained a high growth rate of 9.13%, contributing 3.06 percentage points to the total added value growth of the whole economy. The manufacturing continued to affirm its main contribution to economic growth with an increase of 11.18%, which was lower than the increase of the same period in 2018 but higher than the increase in the first 6 months of the years from 2012 to 2017^[6], contributed 2.38 percentage points. The mining and quarrying increased by 1.78%, contributing 0.12 percentage points. The construction activities in the first 6 months of 2019 maintained a good growth rate of 7.85%, contributing 0.48 percentage points.

The service sector in the first 6 months of 2019 increased by 6.69%, which was lower than the increase of 6.89% in the first 6 months of 2017 and 2018 but higher than its growth rate over 2012-2016^[7]. In the service sector, the contribution of a number of large share activities to the increase in the total added value was as follows: the wholesale and retail trade increased by 8.09% over the same period last year, which contributed the biggest proportion to the increase in total added value of the whole economy (0.86 percentage points); the finance, banking and insurance activities, the accommodation and food service activities, the real estate activities, and the transportation and storage increased by 7.9%, 6.48%, 4.43%, and 7.89%, which contributing 0.37 percentage points, 0.3 percentage points, 0.27 percentage points, and 0.26 percentage points, respectively.

Regarding the structure of the economy in the first 6 months of this year, the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector, the industry and construction sector, the service sector, and the product taxes less subsidies on production accounted for 13.55%, 34.2%, 42.04%, and 10.21% of the GDP; (The corresponding structure in the same period of 2018 was: 14.13%; 33.83%; 41.8%; 10.24%).

From the expenditure approach of the first 6-month GDP, the final consumption increased by 7.05% over the same period in 2018; the capital formation rose 7.12%; the exports of goods and services expanded 7.06%; the import of goods and services spread 7.98%.

Agriculture, forestry and fishery

Agriculture, forestry and fishery production in the first 6 months of 2019 was generally stable. Poultry farming developed well. The fishery was recorded the highest growth rate in the past 9 years, production of aquaculture and fishery catching increased significantly. However, the agricultural still faced difficulties due to complicated weather conditions affecting the production and yields of crop, and the outbreak of African swine fever spread on a large scale with 10% disposal of dead pigs out of the total population.

a) Agriculture

Winter-spring paddy cultivation in the beginning this year recorded favorable weather, early roots and tillering, but during rice growth, unseasonal weather with long lasting hot weather that caused paddy bloomed early and a reduction of yield. Cultivated area of winter-spring paddy in the nationwide this year reached 3,123.9 thousand hectares, equaling 100.7% of over the same period last year, of which Northern localities reached 1,117.1 thousand hectares, equaling 99.1%; Southern localities reached 2,006.8 thousand hectares, equaling 101.6%. According to the preliminary report, the yield of winter-spring paddy in the nationwide was estimated at 65.7 quintals / hectares, a decrease of 0.7 quintals / hectare compared with that of over the previous winter-spring crop, of which Northern provinces reached 63.5 quintals / hectare, a decline of 0.6 quintals / hectare; Southern localities reached 66.9 quintals / hectare, a decline of 0.8 quintals / hectare. Some provinces winter-spring paddy yield was recorded a decrease of over the same period last year: Ben Tre by 8.3 quintals / hectare; An Giang by 2.5 quintals / hectare; Can Tho by 2 quintals / hectare; Bac Ninh by 1.9 quintals / hectare; Kien Giang by 1.9 quintals / hectare; Hai Duong by 1.6 quintals / hectare; Hanoi by 1.4 quintals / hectare; Hai Phong by 0.3 quintals / hectare. Winter-spring paddy production in the nationwide was estimated at 20.5 million tons, a decrease of 84.5 thousand tons compared with that of over the winter-spring crop in 2018, of which winter-spring paddy production in the North reached 7.1 million tons, a decline of 140, 2 thousand tons (Only the Red River Delta reached 3.4 million tons, a decline of 94.9 thousand tons because some parts of the cultivated area was converted to other uses[8]), the South reached 13.4 million tons, an increase of 55.7 thousand tons (Mekong River Delta reached 10.9 million tons, an increase of 41 thousand tons).

Along with harvesting winter-spring paddy, localities across the country cultivated 1,881.1 thousand hectares of summer-autumn paddy, equaling 98.8% of over the same period last year, of which Mekong River Delta reached 1,502.7 thousand hectares, equaling 98.6%. As of middle of June, summer-autumn paddy in Northern provinces was in the tillering stage to be green, in Southern provinces, the main summer-autumn paddy was in the tillering stage, and paddy was growing well. Up to now, there was 193 thousand hectares of early summer-autumn paddy in Mekong Delta for harvest, equaling 108.8% of over the same period in 2018.

As of mid-June, localities across the country cultivated 558.7 thousand hectares of maize, equaling 100.1% of over the same period last year; 79.6 thousand hectares of sweet potatoes, equaling 98.8%; 23.8 thousand hectares of soybeans, equaling 97.5%; 137.8 thousand hectares of groundnut, equaling 96%; 706.6 thousand hectares of vegetables and beans, equaling 102.7%.

Total area of perennial trees was estimated at 3,504.1 thousand hectares, rising by 2.9% of over the same period in 2018, of which the industrial tree group reached 2,211.2 thousand hectares, falling by 0.1%; fruit tree group reached 1,008.6 thousand hectares, rising by 8.3%; group of oil-plants reached 176.9 thousand hectares, rising by 3.7%; spices and medicinal plants reached 48.5 thousand hectares, falling by 5.2%; other perennial plants reached 58.9 thousand hectares, rising by 56.2%. Production of perennial industrial crops increased compared with that of over the same period last year: Tea reached 462.5 thousand tons, rising by 5.4%; rubber reached 372.7 thousand tons, rising by 5.9%; cashew nuts reached 283.3 thousand tons, an increase of 6.3%; pepper reached 250.9 thousand tons, rising by 0.4%. Production of some fruits was recorded well: Rambutan reached 208.4 thousand tons, rising by 12.7% of over the same period in 2018; mangoes reached 516.6 thousand tons, rising by 7.8%; pineapple reached 379.5 thousand tons, rising by 2.3%; oranges reached 312.3 thousand tons, rising by 3.8%.

Livestock faced complicated situation, there was recorded a widespread of African swine fever. As of June 25, 2019, African swine fever was reported in 4,389 communes, 458 districts of 60 provinces and central cities[9]. Total number of pigs to be disposed across the country was 2.82 million heads, holding 10% of the total, of which Red River Delta suffered the biggest loss with 2.1 million pigs disposed. The total pig population in June decreased by 10.3% of over the same period last year; production of pig living weight in 6 months reached 1,801.2 thousand tons, falling by 4.7% (the second quarter reached 796.8 thousand tons, falling by 12.4%). Buffalo population in the country in June continued to decrease by 3.1% compared with that of over the same period last year due to low economic efficiency and shrinking grazing areas, some households turned to operating business services when the localities collected agricultural land to invest and build industrial zones; Production of buffalo living weight in 6 months was estimated at 51.2 thousand tons, increasing by 3% of against same period last year (second quarter reached 24.8 thousand tons, rising by 3.8%). Cattle population grew quite well with an increase of 2.6% in the month due to favorable price and consumption market, farmers made stable profits; production of cattle living-weight in 6 months reached 192.5 thousand tons, rising by 3.8% (the second quarter reached 93.2 thousand tons, rising by 5.2%); cow milk production in the first 6 months reached 508.4 thousand tons, rising by 8.2% (second quarter reached 256.2 thousand tons, rising by 9%). Poultry production was recorded to grow well, no major epidemics occurred, stable market, farmers was reassured to expand population size. Especially in second quarter, when the disease situation in pigs witnessed complicated, demand for meat and poultry eggs was recorded to increase sharply because people limited to use pig products. Total poultry population in June increased by 7.5% of over the same period last year; Production of poultry living weight in the first 6 months of 2019 reached 660.9 thousand tons, rising by 8.6% (second quarter reached 322.7 thousand tons, rising by 11.3%); poultry egg production in 6 months reached nearly 7 billion eggs, rising by 11.4% (second quarter reached 3.4 billion eggs, rising by 12.3%).

b) Forestry

Forestry production in the first 6 months of 2019 generally developed stably, focusing mainly on forest tending, protection and logging from forest area in harvesting period. In second quarter, the country’s concentrated forest area was estimated at 78.1 thousand hectares, falling by 5.3% of over the same period last year; number of dispersed trees reached 18.7 million, falling by 6%; wood production reached 4,316 thousand m3, an increase of 4.3%; firewood production reached 5.3 million ste, falling by 1.9%. Generally, in 6 months, the concentrated forest area was estimated at 110 thousand hectares, falling by 5% of over the same period last year, number of dispersed planted trees reached 34.4 million trees, falling by 3.2% due to limit budget sources for afforestation this year and some of the harvested forests was converted to perennial crops. Wood and forest product in the first 6 months of the year witnessed a good growth; the purchasing price of wood was stable due to the increasing demand for raw materials for wood products. Production of wood reached 7,030 thousand m3, rising by 4.4%, of which some localities had fairly good timber production: Quang Nam reached 711 thousand m3, by 12.1%; Quang Tri reached 559 thousand m3, by 9.5%; Nghe An reached 502.6 thousand m3, by 9.5%; Binh Dinh reached 454.7 thousand m3, by 8.1%; Phu Tho reached 305.7 thousand m3, by 8.8%. Firewood production in the first 6 months of this year reached 9.2 million ste, falling by 1.4% of against the same period last year.

Devastation forest area in the second quarter of 2019 was 523 hectares, rising by 36.5% of over the same period last year, of which forest fired area was 326.6 hectares, rising by 59.3%; area of harvest and destroyed forests was 196.4 hectares, rising by 10.3%. Generally, the first 6 months in 2019, the country was recorded 685.4 hectares of forest destroyed, rising by 36.6% of over the same period last year, including forest fired area was 402 hectares, rising by 81.2%; area of forest was being cut and destroyed reached 283.4 hectares, rising by 1.2%.

c) Fishery

Fishery production in the second quarter and 6 beginning months in 2019 were recorded to grow quite well due to the increasing market demand. Fishery production in the second quarter of 2019 was estimated at 2,311.5 thousand tons, rising by 6.4% of over the same period last year, of which fish reached 1,734.1 thousand tons, rising by 5.8%; shrimp reached 261.3 thousand tons, rising by 9%; other aquatic products reached 316.1 thousand tons, rising by 7.6%. Production of aquaculture in the second quarter was estimated at 1,272.7 thousand tons, rising by 7.4% of over the same period last year, of which fish reached 923.3 thousand tons, rising by 6.2%; shrimp reached 218.2 thousand tons, rising by 10.8%. Production of fishery catching in the second quarter was estimated at 1,038.8 thousand tons, increasing by 5.1% of against same period last year, of which fish reached 810.8 thousand tons, rising by 5.3%; shrimp reached 43.1 thousand tons, rising by 0.7%.

Generally, in the first 6 months this year, total fishery production was estimated at 3,780.5 thousand tons, rising by 5.8% of over the same period last year, of which fish reached 2,835 thousand tons, rising by 5.6%; shrimp reached 397.8 thousand tons, rising by 7.7%; other fisheries reached 547.7 thousand tons, a growth of 5.8%.

Production of aquaculture in 6 months reached 1,921.2 thousand tons, an increase of 6.7% of over the same period last year, of which fish reached 1,393.6 thousand tons, up 5.9%; shrimp reached 320.3 thousand tons, rising by 9.8%; other fisheries reached 207.3 thousand tons, rising by 7%. Pegasus production and consumption in the first quarter of 2019 was recorded more favorably than the second quarter due to stable prices maintained at a high level, since May until now price of raw pangasius tended to decrease[10] but Pegasus production in the second quarter increased significantly compared with that of over the same period last year. Pegasus production in the second quarter was estimated at 391.7 thousand tons, rising by 7.2%. Generally for 6 months, pangasius production was estimated to reach 643.8 thousand tons, an increase of 7.7% of over the same period last year, of which Dong Thap reached 204.9 thousand tons, by 6.6%; An Giang reached 175.4 thousand tons, by 13%; Can Tho reached 87.9 thousand tons, by 7.6%. The weather in the first months of the year was recorded favorable for brackish shrimp farming. Although from mid-May to now, shrimp prices tended to decrease[11], but shrimp production increased significantly due to high shrimp prices at the beginning of the year, so farmers actively stocked, and super-intensive shrimp farming model was recorded to better control disease, 4-5 times easier than it was in the intensive shrimp farming in earthen ponds. Production of black tiger shrimp in the second quarter reached 76 thousand tons, rising by 8.7%; white shrimp production was estimated at 131.1 thousand tons, rising by 11.1%. Generally, in the first 6 months of 2019, black tiger shrimp production was estimated at 119.4 thousand tons, rising by 7.5% of over the same period in 2018; white shrimp production was estimated at 177 thousand tons, rising by 10.7%.

Fishery catching production in the first 6 months was estimated at 1,859.3 thousand tons, rising by 5% of over the same period last year, of which fish reached 1,441.4 thousand tons, rising by 5.2%; shrimp reached 77.5 thousand tons, falling by 0.3%; other fisheries reached 340.4 thousand tons, rising by 5.1%. The weather in the first months of the year was recorded favorable for marine catching activities. Production of marine catching in the first 6 months reached 1,775.3 thousand tons, rising by 5.2% of over the same period last year, of which fish reached 1,383.9 thousand tons, rising by 5.4%; shrimp reached 71.1 thousand tons, falling by 0.4%.

Industrial production

In the first 6 months of 2019, the industry maintained strong growth with an increase of 9.13% in the value added, of which the manufacturing played a key role and led the overall growth of the industrial activities and the whole economy; the production and distribution of electricity ensured adequately supply of electricity for people’s production and consumption; the mining and quarrying saw a slight increase of 1.78% after many consecutive years of decline thanks to high increase in coal mining, making up for the decreased in the extraction of crude oil.

The value added of the whole industrial activities in the first 6 months was estimated to increase 9.13% over the same period last year (the first quarter increased by 9%; the second quarter increased by 9.24%), lower than the increase of 9.28% in the same period of 2018 but higher than the increase of 7.01% and 5.42% in the same period of 2016 and 2017. The manufacturing continued to be the bright spot of the whole industrial activities with an increase of 11.18% (the first quarter increased by 11.52%; the second quarter increased by 10.9%), contributing 7.1 percentage points to the overall increase; the production and distribution of electricity increased by 10.63%, contributing 1.51 percentage points; the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities increased by 7.79%, contributing 0.16 percentage points; the mining and quarrying increased by 1.78% after 3 years of continuous decrease[12] (due to the lower decrease in the extraction of crude oil and high increase in the mining of coal and metal ores), contributing 0.36 percentage points to the overall increase.

Relating usage of industrial products, the index of industrial production (IIP) of intermediary products (for the following production process) in the first 6 months of 2019 increased by 8.4% over the same period last year; the IIP of products for final consumption increased by 10.3% (of which, means of production increased by 9.8% and consumer goods for residents increased by 10.5%).

In 2-digit industrial activities, the 6-month IIP of some activities increased significantly over the same period last year, contributing mainly to the overall growth of the whole industry: the manufacture of coke, refined petroleum products (69.1%); the manufacture of basic metals (40.1%); the mining of metal ore (18.1%); the manufacture of wood and of products of wood and cork, except furniture (15.1%); the manufacture of rubber and plastic products (14.7%); the printing and reproduction of recorded media, and the manufacture of furniture (13%); the mining of coal and lignite (11.9%); the manufacture of motor vehicles (11.7%); the manufacture of textile (11.5%); the manufacture of electrical equipment (11.4%).

Some major industrial products showed a massive increase in the 6-month IIP over the same period last year: iron and crude steel (59.5%); petrol and oil (58.1%); televisions (29.2%); liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) (17.9%); chemical paint (14.5%); aquatic feed (14%); automobiles (12.8%); clean coal (11.8%); mobile phones (11.1%) (of which, the IIP of smart phones increased by 13.8%).

In the first 6 months of this year, the added value growth of the industrial activities of Tra Vinh was at the first place with an increase of 43.13% compared to the same period last year, mainly due to expansion in electricity production; followed by Thanh Hoa with a rise of 42.6% because Nghi Son Refinery And Petrochemical LLC came into operation in mid-2018; Ha Tinh increased by 30.98% mainly due to the contribution from the Formosa Group. Some provinces with the large share of the industry sector showed an increase in the 6-month value added growth compared to the same period last year: Hai Phong (24.93%); Quang Ninh (13.51%); Vinh Phuc (12.95%); Hai Duong (10.38%); Thai Nguyen (9.76%); Dong Nai (9.12%); Binh Duong (7.65%); Ha Noi (7.72%); Ho Chi Minh (7.8%).

The index of industrial shipment (IIS) of the manufacturing in June 2019 increased by 4.1% over the previous month and by 10.6% over the same period last year. Generally, in the first 6 months of 2019, the IIS of the manufacturing increased by 9.6% over the same period last year (the same period in 2018 increased by 11.9%), of which some activities enjoyed a significant growth of the IIS: the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (64.9%); the manufacture of basic metals (31.6%); the printing and reproduction of recorded media (17.2%); the manufacture of rubber and plastic products (14.4%); the manufacture of motor vehicles (12.6%); the manufacture of electrical equipment (12.5%); the manufacture of beverages (10.1%). The IIS of manufacturing tobacco products increased slightly by 0.9%. A number of activities experienced a decrease in the IIS the manufacture of electronic, computers and optical products (2.3%); the manufacture of other transport vehicles (motorcycles, motorbikes) and the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products (7.2%).

The index of industrial inventory of the manufacturing was estimated at 16.1% as of 30^th June, 2019 compared to the same period last year (the same period in 2018 increased by 11.4%), of which the manufacture of wood and of products of wood and cork saw a slight increase of 1.2% in the index of industrial inventory, several industrial activities have a decline in the index of industrial inventory: the manufacture of electronic, computers and optical products (2.6%); the manufacture of motor vehicles (4.7%); the manufacture of paper and paper products (16.1%); the printing and reproduction of recorded media (16.2%); the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products (16.6%). A number of activities experienced a considerable increase in the index of industrial inventory compared to the same period last year: the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (141.1%); the manufacture of other transport vehicles (motorcycles, motorbikes) (117.6%); the manufacture of chemicals and chemical products (73.1%); the manufacture of basic metals (48.6%); the manufacture of leather and related (32.2%); the manufacture of electrical equipment (31.3%); the manufacture of wearing apparel (23.7%).

The average index of industrial inventory of the manufacturing in in the first 6 months of 2019 reached a quite high increase of 74.9%[13] (63.4% in the same period last year), of which some industrial activities showed the high index: the manufacture of textile (274.1%); the manufacture of wood and of products of wood and cork (128.1%); the manufacture of chemicals and chemical products (94%); the manufacture of food products (78.8%); the manufacture of fabricated metal products (except machinery and equipment) (73.3%); the manufacture of rubber and plastic products (70.6%).

The number of employees working in industrial enterprises as of 1^st June, 2019 increased by 1.5% over the same period last month and by 2.3% compared to the same period last year, of which the number of employees working in State-owned enterprises decreased by 1.6%; the number of employees working in non-state enterprises, FDI enterprises increased by 1.9%, 3.2%, respectively. At that time, the number of employees working in the mining and quarrying decreased by 3.4% compared to the same period last year; the number of employees working in the manufacturing, the production and distribution of electricity, the water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities increased by 2.5%, 3.4%, and 2.9%, respectively.

Enterprise activities

The wave of start up continues to be a channel to mobilize capital and improve production capacity for the economy. In the first 6 months of 2019, there were nearly 67 thousand newly registered enterprises, the highest number of registered enterprises in the past 5 years[14]. If including the newly registered capital and the additionally registered capital, in the first 6 months of this year, it was estimated enterprises that recorded upward nearly 2.2 million billion VND in the economy. Results of the business trend survey of manufacturing enterprises in the second quarter of 2019 showed that almost of enterprises assessed the business production situation better than the first quarter of 2018, enterprises was optimistic with the business production situation in the third quarter of 2019, it would be more stable and better.

a. Enterprise registration situation[15]

In June 2019, there were 12,960 newly established enterprises in the whole country with a registered capital of 190.5 trillion VND, an increase of 21.2% in the number of enterprise and 49.7% in the registered capital compared to last month[16]; the average registered capital per enterprise reached 14.7 billion VND, went up 23.5%; the total number of registered employees of newly established enterprises was 111.8 thousand enterprises, increasing by 26.9%. In this month, there were 2,137 re-operated enterprises, a downturn of 13.2% from the previous month; 2,351 enterprises ceased for a certain period of time, a growth of 1.1%; 2,931 enterprises temporarily ceased and awaited dissolution, rose up 40.3%; 1,455 enterprises completed dissolution procedures, a rise of 36.5%.

In the second quarter of 2019, there were 38.5 thousand newly established enterprises with a total registered capital of 484.7 trillion VND, an increase of 35.3% in the number of enterprises and 29.1% in the capital compared to quarter I/2019; over the same period last year, a rise of 2% in the number of enterprises and 30.8% in the registered capital. Generally, in the first 6 months of this year, there were nearly 67 thousand newly registered enterprises in the whole country with a total registered capital of 860.2 trillion VND, an upturn of 3.8% in the number of enterprises and 32.5% in the registered capital as compared to the same period in 2018[17]; the average registered capital of a newly established enterprise was 12.8 billion VND, up by 27.7%. If including 1,310.3 trillion VND of the additionally registered capital of enterprises that recorded upward adjustment, the total additional registered capital in the economy in the first 6 months of 2019 was 2,170.5 trillion VND. In addition, there were 21.6 thousand re-operated enterprises, going up by 31.4% over the same period last year, bringing the total number of newly registered enterprises and re-operated enterprises in 6 May this year to nearly 88.6 thousand enteprises. The total number of registered employees of newly established enterprises in the first 6 months of this year was 649 thousand persons, went up 27.6% over the same period last year.

By economic activities, in the first 6 months, there were 960 newly established enterprises in the agriculture, forestry and fishery, accounting for 1.4% of the total number of newly established enterprises; 18.2 thousand enterprises in the industry and construction, sharing 27.2%; 47.8 enterprises in the service, making up 71.4%. In particular, almost of the fields of operation had the number of newly established enterprises increased over the same period last year: There were 21.8 thousand enterprises in the wholesale and retail, repair of automobiles and motorbikes (accounting for 32.6 % of newly established enterprises), increasing by 0.2%; 8.5 thousand manufacturing enterprises (accounting for 12.8%), edging up by 6.2%; 5.6 thousand enterprises in the science, technology, consultation service, designing, advertisement and others (making up 8.3%), a rise of 12.8%; 4,000 real estate enterprises (accounting for 6%), an upturn of 22.2%; 3.9 thousand enterprises in the employment services, travel, renting and leasing of machinery, equipment and other support services (forming 5.9%), went up 4.1%… Some economic activities, the number of newly established enterprises decreased compared to the same period last year, as follows: accommodation and catering services had 3.1 thousand enterprises (making up 4.7% of the total number of newly established enterprises), a reduction of 6.5%; 2.8 thousand enterprises in the transportation and storage, (accounting for 4.2%), a decline of 1.7%; 718 enterprises in the financial, banking and insurance activities (accounting for 1.1%), down 14.2%; 327 mining enterprises (representing 0.5%), down by 0.3%.

In the first 6 months of this year, most of the economic regions with the number of newly registered enterprises increased compared to the same period last year: The Red River Delta region had 20.5 thousand enterprises, a rise of 6.7% (the capital registered reached 236.8 trillion VND, up 24.7%); North Central and Central Coast areas had 9.6 thousand enterprises, went up 4.9% (the registered capital of 90.4 trillion VND, up 2.9%); Central Highlands had 1.7 thousand enterprises, rose up 8.8% (the registered capital of 20.4 trillion VND, up 105%); The Southeast had 27.9 thousand enterprises, a growth of 2.3% (the registered capital was 432 trillion VND, up 47.7%); The Mekong River Delta had 4.7 thousand enterprises, an increase of 1.2% (the registered capital of 50.2 trillion VND, rising by 11.8%). Particularly in the Northern Midlands and Mountains areas, there were 2.6 thousand newly established enterprises, a fall of 5.2% compared to the same period last year (the registered capital was 30.4 trillion VND, a surge 27.6%).

The number of enterprises ceased for a certain period of time in the first 6 months of this year was 21.1 thousand enterprises, increasing by 17.4% compared to the same period last year. By economic activities, there were 8.2 thousand enterprises enterprises ceased for a certain period of time in the wholesale and retail, repair of automobiles and motorbikes (accounting for 39.1%), an upturn of 16.8% over the same period last year; 3.1 thousand construction enterprises (accounting for 14.5%), increasing by 11.1%; 2,700 manufacturing enterprises (accounting for 12.6%), up 19.1%; 1.3 thousand enterprises in the science, technology, consultation service, designing, advertisement and others (accounting for 6.1%), increasing by 22.4%; 1.2 thousand transport and storage enterprises (accounting for 5.8%), up 12%; 1.1 thousand accommodation and catering services enterprises (accounting for 5.1%), up 13.4% … In the first 6 months of this year, there were 21.8 thousand enterprises temporarily ceased and awaited dissolution, of which 11,000 enterprises were revoked their business registration certificates in line with the 2018 data standardization program, forming 50.3% of the total number of enterprises temporarily ceased without registration or awaited dissolution; enterprises that announced dissolution were 6.4 thousand enterprises, making up 29.6% and 4.4 thousand enterprises awaited dissolution, sharing 20.1%.

The number of enterprises completed dissolution procedures in the first 6 months of 2019 was 7.8 thousand enterprises, a growth of 18.1% over the same period last year, of which 7.1 thousand enterprises with the capital size of less than 10 billion VND (sharing 90.4% of the total number of enterprises completing dissolution procedures), rose up 16.8%. Enterprises completing dissolution procedures focused mainly on the enterprises in the wholesale and retail, repair of automobiles and motorbikes with 3.2 thousand enterprises (making up 40.8%), up 25.8% compared to the same period last year; 825 manufacturing enterprises (accounting for 10.5%), a reduction of 11.7%; 763 construction enterprises (forming 9.7%), expanded 7.9%.

b) Business trends of enterprises

Results on the business trends survey of the manufacturing enterprises in the second quarter of 2019 showed that: 45.2% of enterprises assessed that the business production situation in the second quarter of this year was better than the previous quarter; 16.5% of enterprises faced difficulties and 38.3% of enterprises said that the business production situation was stable[18]. For expected outcome of the third quarter of 2019, 52% of enterprises presented that the trend would get better; 11.4% of enterprises predicted that it would be more difficult and 36.6% of enterprises said that the business production situation would be stable. In particular, the FDI sector was the most optimistic, 91.3% of enterprises forecasted a better the business production situation in the third quarter of 2019 and expected to remain stable; this rates in the State-owned enterprises and the non-state enterprises were 86.5% and 87.8%, respectively.

Among the main factors affecting the business production situation in the second quarter of 2019, 58.4% of enterprises believed that the competitiveness of domestic goods was the most influential factor to the operation of enterprise; 44.3% of enterprises said that demand of domestic market was low; 33.7% of enterprises stated financial difficulties; 30.5% of enterprises blamed for not recruiting qualified workers; 28.4% of enterprises balmed for high interest rates and 22.3% of enterprises believed that high competitiveness of imported goods was an important factor.

Regarding production volume, 47.8% of enterprises pointed out production volume in the second quarter of 2019 increased compared to the previous quarter; 16.3% of enterprises reported that the production volume reduced and 35.9% of enterprises predicted a stability[19]. The trend in the third quarter of 2019, 53.1% of enterprises forecasted an increase in production volume; 10.6% of enterprises forecasted a decrease and 36.3% of enterprises forecasted a stability. The forecast trend in the third quarter, there were 91.9% of enterprises said that in the last 6 months of 2019, the production volume increased and remained stable compared to the first 6 months of 2019 (58.6% of enterprises forecasted an increase; 33.3% of enterprises forecasted stable); only 8.1% forecasted a decrease in production volume.

Regarding orders for goods, 41.4% of enterprises had more orders in the second quarter of 2019 than the previous quarter; 16.5% of enterprises had fewer orders and 42.1% of enterprises recorded stable orders[20]. In the third quarter of 2019, 47.9% of enterprises expected an increase in orders; 10.3% of enterprises expected a decrease in orders and 41.8% of enterprises expected to have stable orders. The number of new orders was expected to be better in the last 6 months compared to the first 6 months of 2019 with 91.9% of enterprises forecasted to increase and keep the number of orders stable (54.1% of enterprises forecasted a increase; 37.8% of enterprises forecasted a stability), only 8.1% of enterprises forecasted a decrease.

Regarding export orders, 36.7% of enterprises had more export orders in the second quarter of 2019 than the previous quarter; 16% of enterprises had fewer export orders and 47.3% of enterprises had stable export orders. In the third quarter of 2019, 41.7% of enterprises predicting export orders would increase; 10.4% of enterprises expected a decrease and 47.9% of enterprises expected to be stable.

Service operation

a. Retail sales of consumer goods and services

Gross retail sales of consumer goods and services in the first 6 months reached a high growth rate compared to the same period last year (11.5%), reflecting increasing consumer demand among the people. Goods supply in the market was plentiful, which fully and timely met the needs of production and consumption. The consumer market has been expanded and diversified in the form of promotions that contributed to a vibrant market in the first months of 2019.

Gross retail sales of consumer goods and services in June were estimated at 409.8 trillion VND, going up by 1.9% over the previous month and up 11.5% over the same period last year. Generally for the second quarter of 2019, gross retail sales of consumer goods and services were estimated to reach 1,206.9 trillion VND, up 1.9% over the previous quarter and up 11.1% over the same period last year. Of which: retail sales of goods reached 914.4 trillion VND, rising by 0.6% and by 11.8%; accommodation and catering services revenue reached 147 trillion VND, up 5.3% and up 10.7%; tourism and traveling service revenue reached 11.1 trillion VND, up 3.3% and 13.3%; other service revenue reached 134.4 trillion VND, up 8% and up 6.3%.

Generally for the first 6 months, gross retail sales of consumer goods and services reached 2,391.1 trillion VND, up 11.5% over the same period last year[21], if excluding the price factor, gaining an increase of 8.7% (the same period in 2018 increased by 8.6%).

By economic activities, retail sales of goods in the first 6 months reached 1,823.6 trillion VND, accounting for 76.3% of the total and up 12.5% over the same period last year. Of which, food and foodstuff increased by 13%; household appliances, tools and equipment expanded by 12.1%; garment increased by 11.1%; cultural items, education and transportation increased by 10.7%. Some provinces gained a good increase as follows: Quang Ninh by 19.5%; Thanh Hoa by 16.9%; Binh Duong by 16.6%; Hai Phong by 14.7%; Bac Ninh by 14.4%; Ba Ria – Vung Tau by 14.2%; Nghe An by 13.9%; Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City both increased by 13.8%.

Turnover from accommodation and catering services in the first 6 months was estimated to reach 286.7 trillion VND, accounting for 12% of the total and up 9.8% over the same period last year, of which Binh Dinh increased by 18.4%; Phu Yen soared by 17.9%; Quang Ninh expanded by 16.6%; Hai Phong jumped up by 15.9%; Nghe An accelerated by 14.7%; Hanoi increased by 11%; Ho Chi Minh City grew by 9.6%.

Revenue from tourism and traveling services in 6 months was estimated at 21.9 trillion VND, accounting for 0.9% of the total and up 13.3% over the same period last year. Some provinces achieved a good increase as folows: Quang Ninh by 21.6%; Binh Dinh by 21.2%; Ho Chi Minh City by 17.9%; Thanh Hoa by 13.8%; Lam Dong by 10.8%; Hanoi by 8.8%.

Revenue from other service in the first 6 months was estimated at 258.9 trillion VND, accounting for 10.8% of the total and up 6.3% over the same period in 2018, of which the revenue of Quang Ninh increased by 17.2%; Lam Dong went up by 12.7%; Da Nang expanded by 12.3%; Nam Dinh rose by 10.1%; Ho Chi Minh City grew by 8%; Hai Phong increased by 7.7%; Hanoi climbed by 4.5%.

b) Transportation and telecommunication

Transport activities in the first 6 months of 2019 were generally stable, 4 out of 5 types of transport achieved good growth rates, especially with the launch of a new airline, the aviation industry quite well met the increasing travel demand of the people, created favorable competition for customers; Particularly, railway continued its downward trend in both passenger and freight carriage due to limitations in train capacity, low technical speeds, and inconvenient connection with other modes of transportation.

Passenger carriage in June was estimated at 422.2 million passengers, up 1.1% over the previous month and 19.7 billion passengers-kilometers, up 2.7%; in the second quarter, passenger carriage reached 1,258.6 million passengers, up 10.5% over the same period last year and 57.8 billion passengers-kilometers, up 8.8%. Generally for the first 6 months of 2019, passenger carriage reached 2,495.7 million passengers, up 10.7% over the same period last year and 113.6 billion passengers-kilometers, up 9.5%, of which passenger carried by roadway and by airway achieved the highest increase. Passenger carriage by roadway in 6 months reached 2,359.3 million passengers, up 10.9% over the same period last year and 79 billion passengers-kilometers, up 10.3%; airway reached 26.7 million passengers, up 8.3% and 30.6 billion passengers-kilometers, up 8.8%; inland waterways reached 101.6 million passengers, up 7.1% and 1,979.5 million passengers-kilometers, up 6.5%; by seaway reached 3.8 million passengers, up 5.2% and 227.1 million passengers-kilometers, up 5%; railway reached 4.2 million passengers, down 6.8% and 1,770.3 million passengers-kilometers, down 7.8%.

Freight carriage in June was estimated at 138.2 million tons, up 0.7% over the previous month and 26.5 billion tons-kilometers, up 1.1%; freight carriage in the second quarter was estimated at 410.8 million tons, up 8.5% over the same period last year and 78.5 billion tons-kilometers, up 7.7%. Generally for 6 months, freight carriage reached 823.1 million tons, up 8.5% over the same period last year and 156.7 billion tons-kilometers, up 7.1%, of which domestic transport reached 806.6 million tons, up 8.7% and 88.1 billion tons.km, up 10.2%; foreign transport reached 16.5 million tons, up 2.7% and 68.6 billion tons-kilometers, up 3.3%. By types of transport, the roadway in 6 months reached 632.5 million tons, up 9.7% over the same period last year and 42.3 billion tons-kilometers, up 9.9%; airway reached 211.4 thousand tons, up 13.2% and 536 million tons-kilometers, up 12.9%; inland waterways reached 147.8 million tons, up 5.1% and 31 billion tons-kilometers, up 5.4%; seaway reached 39.9 million tons, up 5.1% and 81.2 billion tons-kilometers, up 6.7%; railway reached 2.6 million tons, down 10.4% and 1.8 billion tons-kilometers, down 9.7%.

Telecommunications revenue in the second quarter of 2019 was estimated at 91.7 trillion VND, up 7.08% over the same period last year (if excluding the price factor, the increase was 6.9%). Telecommunications revenue in the first 6 months was estimated to reach 184.3 trillion VND, up 7.13% (if excluding the price factor, gaining an increase of 6.79%). By the end of June 2019, the total number of telephone subscribers was estimated at nearly 138 million, up 11.1% over the same period last year, of which mobile subscribers reached 133.9 million, increased by 11.8%; fixed broadband internet subscribers reached nearly 13.7 million, up 11.3%.

c) International visitors to Viet Nam

Vietnam continues to be attractive destination for international tourists. The number of visitors has continuously reached over 1 million visitors per month since the beginning of 2019. Generally, in 6 months, international visitors to Vietnam reached nearly 8.5 million people. However, the number of visitors is revealing a gradually downward trend. June has witnessed the lowest number of international visitors since the beginning of the year, and the growth rate in the first 6 months of this year reached 7.5%, much lower than the increase in the period 2016-2018[22].

International arrivals to Vietnam in June were estimated at 1,185.4 thousand, decreasing by 10.6% against last month, of which arrivals by roadway and by air both decreased by 10.6%; arrivals by seaway declined by 13.3%. Compared to the same period last year, international visitors to our country in June increased by only 0.2%, mainly because visitors from Asia who accounted for the majority of visitors to our country, decreased by 0.4%; from Oceania decreased by 6%; while visitors from Europe increased by 2.3%; from America increased by 7.4% and from Africa increased by 6.9%.

Generally, in the first 6 months of 2019, international visitors to Vietnam were estimated at 8,481 thousand, up 7.5% over the same period last year, of which arrivals by roadway increased the highest with 24.9%, reaching 1,683.5 thousand people; followed by airway with an increase of 4.5%, reaching 6,658.3 thousand; particularly by seaway reached 139.2 thousand, decreasing by 19.9%.

In the first 6 months, international visitors from Asia to Vietnam reached 6,567.5 thousand, accounting for 77.4% of the total number of international visitors, up 8.2% over the same period last year, of which visitors from most major markets increased: South Korea reached 2,078.6 thousand, up 21.3%; Japan was 455.7 thousand people, up 12.8%; Taiwan was 430.3 thousand people, up 27%. Notably, visitors from China reached more than 2,483.3 thousand, continuing to lead in the number of international visitors to Vietnam but reducing by 3.3% over the same period last year; visitors from Cambodia reached 58.5 thousand, down 51%; Laos was 46.5 thousand people, down 23%.

Visitors from Europe were estimated at 1,147.8 thousand, up 5.5% over the same period last year and increasing in almost markets excepting for Finland (down 10.1%), but the growth rate was not high. Visitors from Russian Federation were 358.8 thousand people, increasing by 6%; UK was 165.1 thousand, up 4.4%; France was 155.1 thousand arrivals, up 1.2%; Germany was 118.5 thousand, increasing by 6.2%.

Visitors from the Americas reached 518.9 thousand, up 5.2% over the same period last year, mainly from the United States, reaching 393.1 thousand, up 6.3%. Visitors from Oceania reached 224.2 thousand, up 0.5%, of which arrivals from Australia reached 200.3 thousand, down 0.3%. Visitors from Africa reached 22.6 thousand, up 8.9% over the same period in 2018.

II. MACROECONOMICS STABILIZATION AND INFLATION CONTROL

Banking, insurance and security activities

As of 18th June, 2019, the total payment facilities increased by 6.05% compared to the end of 2018 (the rise of same period in 2018 was 8.03%); capital mobilization of credit institutions increased by 6.09% (the growth of same period in 2018 was 7.76%); Credit growth of the economy reached 6.22% (the increase of same period in 2018 was 6.1%).

The State Bank of Viet Nam regulated interest rates in line with macroeconomic changes and monetary market; Credit institutions applied reasonable lending rates basing on mobilizing interest rate and loan risks, grantee of financial security. The mobilizing interest rate and lending interest rate were basically stable. The lending rates for VND in was popular at 6-9% per year for short-term; 9-11% per year for the medium and long term. For customers with healthy financial status, high creditworthiness, the lending interest rate was at 4-5% per year for short-term. The credit structure continued to focus on production and business sectors and priority areas under the Government’s direction; the credit to the sectors of potential risks was strengthened control.

The insurance activity in the second quarter of 2019 increased sharply compared to the same period in 2018. Insurance premium revenue in the second quarter of 2019 was estimated to increase by 15% over the same period last year, of which: the revenue of life insurance rose by 18%, the non-life insurance expanded by 9%. Generally, the insurance revenue in the first 6 months of 2019 was estimated to increase by 17% over the same period last year, of which life insurance premium revenue spread 21% and non-life insurance increased by 10%. The system of insurance products was developed in the trend of expansion and diversification with more than 1,300 products, including about 450 life insurance products and about 850 non-life insurance products. The quality of insurance products was improved to meet the demands of the insured persons. In addition to traditional products, new insurance products focused on financial factors and investment links.

The stock market in the first 6 months of 2019 had a lot of contributions to raising capital for the economy with a total capital mobilization of 147.2 trillion VND, a rise of 26% over the same period last year. As of June 2019, the stock market had 742 listed shares and fund certificates; 833 shares registered to trade on UPCoM transaction market with the total listed and registered trading value of 1,275 trillion VND, an increase of 5.4% compared to the end of 2018; the bond market had 532 listed bonds with a listed value of 1,120 trillion VND, going down 0.1%. In the first 6 months of 2019, the average trading value on the stock market reached 4,472 billion VND per session, a fall of 31.7% compared to the average trading value per session in 2018; in the market, the bond reached 8,682 billion VND, going down 1.7%.

Development investment

The realized investment in the first six months of 2019 increased by 10.3% over that in the same period last year. Of which, the non-state economic sector accounted for the largest proportion of the total investment capital (43. 6%) reaching the highest capital growth rate (16.4%), this was the result of preferential policies, supporting and creating favorable conditions for businesses to expand production and business. Foreign direct investment continued to prosper with a record level of newly registered projects in the first 6 months and the highest realized capital in recent years[23]. It is noted that investment of the state budget was not much improved, with the lowest increase in the years 2016-2019.

The realized investment in the second quarter of 2019 at current prices was estimated at 462.8 trillion VND, an expansion of 11.2% over the same period last year, of which state sector increased by 3.3%; the non-state sector expanded by 17.7%; FDI sector rose 11.5%.

Generally, the realized investment at current prices in the first 6 months of 2019 was estimated at 822.9 trillion VND, a growth of 10.3% over the same period last year and an equivalent to 33.1% of GDP, including: the state capital reached 255 trillion VND, accounting for 31% of the total capital and going up 3% over the same period last year; the non-state sector gained 359.1 trillion VND, making up 43.6% and rising by 16.4%; FDI sector reached 208.8 trillion VND, representing 25.4% and growing up 9.7%.

The realized investment

6 months of 2017-2019 in comparison with the same period of previous year

(At current price)

Unit: %

	6 months year 2017	6 months year 2018	6 months year 2019
Total	111,2	110,0	110,3
State sector	106,5	102,4	103,0
Non-State sector	115,6	117,5	116,4
FDI sector	111,6	109,0	109,7

In the investment capital of the State sector, the realized capital from the State budget in 6 months was estimated at 128.9 trillion VND, equaling 36.8% of the yearly plan and climbing up 3.7% against the same period last year (the rates of the same period in 2018 were 35.3% and 9.5%, respectively), including:

– The capital under central management reached 15.7 trillion VND, equaling 34% of the yearly plan and going down 30.2% over the same period last year; the capital under local management gained 113.2 trillion VND, equaling 37.2% of the yearly plan and climbing up 11.2% over the same period last year, of which state budget capital at provincial level achieved 76.5 trillion VND, equaling to 35.9% of the yearly plan and going up 9%; State budget capital at district level recorded 30.9 trillion VND, equaling 39.7% and increasing by 16.6%; State budget capital at commune level gained 5.8 trillion VND, equaling 44.2% and increasing by13.4%.

Foreign direct investment from the beginning of the year to 20^th June, 2019 attracted 1,723 newly licensed projects with a total registered capital of 7,411.8 million USD, an increase of 26.1% in the number of projects and a decrease of 37.2% of registered capital compared to the same period in 2018. Besides, 628 projects which were licensed in the previous years registered to adjust investment capital with the additional capital of 2,935.4 million USD, a fall of 33.8% over the same period last year. Thus, the total newly and additionally registered capital in the first 6 months of 2019 reached 10,347.2 million USD, a decline of 36.3% compared to the same period in 2018. Foreign direct investment capital in the first 6 months was estimated at 9.1 billion USD, a rise of 8.1% over the same period in 2018. In the first 6 months, there were 4,020 turns of capital contribution and share purchase by foreign investors with a total value of capital contribution of 8.12 billion USD, up 98.1% over the same period in 2018, of which 625 turns of capital contribution and share purchase increased the chartered capital of the enterprise with the value of contributed capital of 5.48 billion USD and 3,395 turns of foreign investors repurchased domestic shares without increasing their charter capital with a value of 2.64 billion USD.

In 6 months of this year, the manufacturing activity attracted the largest foreign direct investment with the registered capital of newly licensed projects reaching 5,440.1 million USD, accounting for 73.4% of the total newly registered capital; the real estate business achieved 803.3 million USD, accounting for 10.8%; the other sectors reached 1,168.4 million USD, making up 15.8%. If including the additional registered capital of the licensed projects in the previous years, the foreign direct investment in the manufacturing activity in the first 6 months witnessed 8,062.9 million USD, comprising 77.9 % of registered capital; the real estate business gained 666.5 million USD, consisting of 6.5%; the other sectors reached 1,617.8 million USD, accounting for 15.6%. For capital contribution, share purchase of foreign investors, capital invested in manufacturing activity reached 5,090.9 million USD, accounting for 62.7% of the total value of capital contribution; the wholesale and retail; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles reached 721.9 million USD, representing 8.9%; the other sectors recorded 2,308.5 million USD, accounting for 28.4%.

In the whole country, there were 46 provinces and centrally-run cities had newly licensed foreign direct investment projects in the first 6 months, of which Binh Duong had the largest registered capital of 623.2 million USD, accounting for 8.4% of total newly registered capital; followed by Tay Ninh with 599.4 million USD, making up 8.1%; Bac Ninh with 581.1 million USD, comprising 7.8%; Ho Chi Minh city 528.8 million USD, representing 7.1%; Dong Nai with 514.7 million USD, comprising 6.9%; Hai Phong 376.5 million USD, consisting of 5.1%; Tien Giang 346.9 million USD, accounting for 4.7%; Bac Giang 341.8 million USD, making up 4.6%; Hai Duong with 326.1 million USD, sharing 4.4%; Da Nang 315.2 million USD, comprising 4.3%; Ba Ria – Vung Tau 313.3 million USD, representing 4.2%; Ha Noi 248.4 million USD, accounting for 3.4%.

Among 63 countries and territories had newly licensed investment projects in Viet Nam in 6 months, China ranked the top with 1,676.8 million USD, accounting for 22.6% of total newly registered capital; followed by South Korea with 1,239.2 million USD, accounting for 16.7%; Japan 972 million USD, representing 13.1%; Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (China) 920.8 million USD, comprising 12.4%; Singapore 858 million USD, consisting of 11.6%; Thailand 347.9 million USD, sharing 4.7%; British Vigin Islands 312.8 million USD, making up 4.22%; Taiwan 311.8 million USD, accounting for 4.21%.

Vietnam’s outward foreign direct investment in the first 6 months of this year, 71 projects were newly granted investment certificates with the total capital of Viet Nam of 103.9 million USD; 19 projects adjusted capital with the additional capital of 96.1 million USD. Generally, Vietnam’s outward investment (newly granted capital and additionally capital) in the first 6 months of 2019 reached 200 million USD, of which the professional, scientific and technical activities reached 81.9 million USD, accounting for 41% of total investment capital; financial, banking and insurance activities witnessed 37.1 million USD, making up 18.6%; information and communication recorded 31.7 million USD, representing 15.8%; wholesale and retail; repair of motors vehicles and motorcycles reached 21.3 million USD, accounting for 10.7%. In 6 months, Vietnam ^‘s outward invested 29 countries and territories, of which Spain was the leading country with 59.8 million USD, accounting for 29.9% of total investment capital; United States 44.9 million USD, representing 22.5%; Cambodia 38 million USD, making up 19%; Australia 14.6 million USD, sharing 7.3%; Malaysia 14.3 million USD, accounting for 7.1%.

State budget revenue and expenditure

In the first 6 months of 2019, the state budget revenue maintained the process and state budget expenditure promptly met requirements of development investment, debt repayment, and assurance of national defense, security and social security and the operation of the state apparatus.

The state budget revenue from the beginning of the year to 15^th June, 2019 was estimated at 660.6 trillion VND, equaling 46.8% of the yearly estimate, of which domestic revenue was 524.8 trillion VND, equaling 44.7%; revenue from crude oil was 26.1 trillion VND, equaling 58.4%; budget balance revenue from import and export activities was 109 trillion VND, equaling 57.6%. In the domestic revenue, tax on state-owned enterprises witnessed 70.3 trillion VND, equaling 39.6% of the yearly estimate; tax on foreign-invested enterprises (excluding crude oil) gained 89 trillion VND, equaling 41.6%; taxes on trade and non-state services achieved 107.1 trillion VND, equaling 44.3%; personal income tax revenue recorded 55.3 trillion VND, equaling 48.9%; revenue from environmental protection tax was 23.4 trillion VND, equaling 33.9%; land use fees gained 49.9 trillion VND, equaling 55.5%.

The state budget expenditure from the beginning of the year to 15^th June, 2019 was estimated at 612.5 trillion VND, equaling 37.5% of the yearly estimate, of which recurrent expenditure was 441.1 trillion VND, equaling to 44.1%; expenditure on development investment was 112.1 trillion VND, equaling 26.1%; interest payment was 55.9 trillion VND, equaling 44.7%.

Export and import of goods and services

a) Export and import of goods

Total import and export turnover of the first 6 months of 2019 was estimated at 245.48 billion USD, the highest figure of 6 months so far with a export turnover of goods of 122.72 billion USD, rose by 7.3 % compared to the same period last year, of which the domestic economic sector had the growth rate of 10.8%, higher than the growth rate of the FDI sector (5.9%). The export turnover of most products in the group of agriculture, forestry and fishery continued to decrease compared to the same period last year. Particularly, fruit and vegetable exports had a good signal when it was the first time their export turnover for the first 6 months reached 2 billion USD. The trade balance of goods in 6 months was estimated to have a low trade deficit with 34 million USD.

Export of goods

Export turnover in May 2019 reached 21,905 million USD, 405 million USD higher than estimated figure, of which electronic goods, computers and their parts were 220 million USD higher; textiles and garments were133 million USD higher; machinery, instrument and accessory were 54 million USD higher than estimated.

Export turnover in June 2019 were estimated at 21.60 billion USD, dropped 1.4% over the previous month, of which the domestic economic sector gained 6.66 billion USD, rose by 1.4%; FDI sector (including crude oil) was 14.94 billion USD, and dropped by 2.6%. Compared to the same period last year, export of goods in June increased by 8.5%, of which the domestic economic sector increased by 10.2%, the FDI sector (including crude oil) increased by 7.8%.

In the second quarter of 2019, export turnover reached 63.86 billion USD, rose by 9.3% over the same period in 2018 and rose by 8.5% compared to the first quarter of this year. In the second quarter, there were 11 products with export turnover of more than 1 billion USD, accounting for 73.6% of total export turnover, of which phones and their parts led with 11.4 billion USD, accounting for 17.8% of total export turnover, rose by 13.6% over the same period last year; electronic goods, computers and their parts reached 8.5 billion USD, rose by 17.7%; textiles and garments reached 7.9 billion USD, rose by 9.3%, etc.

Generally for the first 6 months of 2019, export turnover was estimated at 122.72 billion USD, rose by 7.3% over the same period in 2018[24], of which domestic economic sector gained 36.82 billion USD, rose by 10.8%, accounting for 30% of total export turnover; FDI sector (including crude oil) reached 85.90 billion USD, rose by 5.9%, accounting for 70% (a decline of 0.9 percentage points compared to the same period last year).

In the first 6 months of this year, there were 22 products with over 1 billion USD export turnover, accounting for 86.9% of total export turnover, of which phones and their parts reached 23.5 billion USD, accounting for 19.2% of total export turnover, rose by 4%; electronic goods, computers and their parts reached 15.5 billion USD, rose by 14.3%; textiles and garments reached 15 billion USD, rose by 9.9%; footwear reached 8.8 billion USD, rose by 14.2%; machinery, instrument and accessory reached 8.2 billion USD, rose by 6.3%; wood and wooden products reached 4.9 billion USD, rose by 17.7%; means of transport and spare parts reached 4.3 billion USD, rose by 6.1% …; Remarkably, in the first 6 months of this year, two new products were added with a turnover of over 2 billion USD compared to the same period last year, namely vegetables, fruits and fibers, textile yarn with export turnover of respectively 2.08 billion USD and 2.01 billion USD. Generally, the export proportion of some main products still belonged to the FDI sector, of which: Phones and their parts accounted for 97.5%; electronic goods, computers and their parts accounted for 91.2%; footwear accounted for 77.5%; textiles accounted for 60%. Because the average export price of most agricultural products decreased over the same period, the export turnover of some agricultural and fishery products in the first 6 months of this year increased slightly or decreased: fishery reached 3.9 billion USD, declined by 0.8%; coffee reached 1.6 billion USD, dropped 21.1% (the volume decreased 10.6%); cashew nuts was 1.5 billion USD, dropped 11.8% (the volume increased by 12.5%); rice reached 1.5 billion USD, dropped 17.6% (the volume decreased by 2.9%); rubber gained 822 million USD, rose by 0.3% (the volume increased by 6.6%); pepper achieved 461 million USD, rose by 1.9% (the volume increased by 37.2%).

Regarding the structure of export commodity groups in the first 6 months of 2019, the group of heavy industry and minerals was estimated at 61.7 billion USD, rose by 7.3% over the same period last year; accounted for 50.3% of total export turnover (remaining the same proportion over the same period in 2018). The group of light industry and handicraft products was estimated at 46.7 billion USD, rose by 13.2% and accounted for 38.1% (a rise of 2 percentage points). Agricultural and forestry products reached 10.4 billion USD, dropped 10.3% and accounted for 8.4% (a fall of 1.7 percentage points). Fishery products reached 3.9 billion USD, dropped 0.8% and accounted for 3.2% (a reduction of 0.3 percentage points).

Regarding the exported goods market in the first 6 months of 2019, the United States was Vietnam’s largest export market with a turnover of 27.5 billion USD, rose by 27.4% over the same period last year; the following was the EU market with 20.6 billion USD, dropped 0.4%; China reached 16.8 billion USD, rose by 1%; ASEAN market reached 13.1 billion USD, rose by 6.7%; Japan reached 9.7 billion USD, rose by 9.1%; South Korea reached 9.2 billion USD, rose by 6%.

Import of goods

Import turnover in May 2019 reached 23,194 million USD, 394 million USD higher than estimated figure, of which electronic goods, computers and their parts were 332 million USD higher; crude oil was 153 million USD higher; automobiles were 96 million USD higher; phones and their parts were 55 million USD lower; metal was 60 million USD lower; coal was 74 million USD lower than estimated.

Import turnover in June 2019 were estimated at 21.2 billion USD, dropped 8.6% over the previous month, of which the domestic economic sector gained 9.1 billion USD, dropped 10.3%; FDI sector reached 12.1 billion USD, dropped 7.3%. Compared to the same period in 2018, import turnover of goods in June increased by 10%, of which the domestic economic sector increased by 13%; FDI sector increased by 7.8%.

In the second quarter of 2019, import turnover reached 65.31 billion USD, rose by 12.9% over the same period in 2018 and rose by 13.7% compared to the first quarter of this year. In the second quarter, there were 15 imported products with over 1 billion USD turnover, accounting for 72.3% of total import turnover, of which: electronic goods, computers and their parts reached the highest turnover with 12.5. billion USD (accounting for 19.2% of the total import turnover), rose by 30.9% over the same period in 2018; machinery, instrument and accessory reached 9.3 billion USD, rose by 14.7%; fabric reached 3.9 billion USD, rose by 7.6%; phones and their parts reached 3.1 billion USD, rose by 16% …

Generally for the first 6 months of this year, import turnover was estimated at 122.76 billion USD, rose by 10.5% over the same period in 2018, of which the domestic economic sector gained 52.54 billion USD, an increase of 14.4%; FDI sector reached 70.22 billion USD, rose by 7.8%.

In the first 6 months, there were 26 imported products with turnover of over 1 billion USD, accounting for 84.7% of total import turnover, of which import turnover of some products increased over the same period last year: electronic goods, computers and their parts reached 24.3 billion USD (accounting for 19.8% of total import turnover), rose by 20.9%; machinery, instrument and accessory reached 17.9 billion USD, rose by 14.8%; fabric reached 6.7 billion USD, rose by 7.6%; iron and steel reached 5 billion USD, rose by 0.8%; plastic reached 4.4 billion USD, rose by 1.5%; automobiles reached 3.7 billion USD, rose by 79.9%; plastic products reached 3.1 billion USD, rose by 10.3%; auxiliary materials for textile, garment and footwear attained 3 billion USD, rose by 6.8%; chemicals reached 2.6 billion USD, rose by 5.6%; chemical products reached 2.5 billion USD, rose by 6.1%; crude oil reached 2.2 billion USD, rose by 262%; coal reached over 2 billion USD, rose by 68.7%. In addition, a number of products decreased in turnover compared to the same period in 2018: Phones and their parts reached 5.9 billion USD, dropped 2.2%; metal gained 3.2 billion USD, dropped 8.3%; petroleum and oil gained 2.8 billion USD, dropped 39.7%.

Regarding the structure of imported goods in the first 6 months of this year, the group of input production materials was estimated at 112.3 billion USD, rose by 10.1% over the same period last year and accounted for 91.4% of total import turnover of goods (a fall of 0.4 percentage points compared to the same period in 2018), of which the group of machinery, instrument and accessory, means of transport and spare parts reached 52.6 billion USD, rose by 17.4% and accounted for 42.8% (rose by 2.5 percentage points); raw materials, fuels reached 59.7 billion USD, rose by 4.4% and accounted for 48.6% (a decline of 2.9 percentage points). Consumer goods group was estimated at 10.5 billion USD, rose by 15.4% and accounting for 8.6% (a rise of 0.4 percentage points).

Regarding imported goods market in the first 6 months of this year, China was still the largest import market of Vietnam with a turnover of 36.8 billion USD, rose by 21.8% over the same period last year; the following was the Korean market with 22.9 billion USD, rose by 1%; ASEAN market reached 16.3 billion USD, rose by 6.4%; Japan reached 8.8 billion USD, dropped 0.7%; The United States reached 7.1 billion USD, rose by 17.1%; EU market reached 6.9 billion USD, rose by 9.1%.

Trade balance of goods in May saw a trade deficit of 1.3 billion USD (unchanged compared to the estimated figure); trade deficit of 5 months was 434 million USD; June was estimated to have a trade surplus of 400 million USD. Generally for the first 6 months of 2019, the trade deficit was estimated at 34 million USD^[25] (equivalent to 0.03% of the total export turnover in 6 months), of which the domestic economic sector had a trade deficit of 15.72 billion USD; FDI sector (including crude oil) saw a trade surplus of 15.68 billion USD.

b) Export and import of services

In the second quarter of 2019, the service export turnover reached 3.8 billion USD, rose by 6.4% over the same period in 2018 (the first quarter increased by 6.1%); service import turnover reached 4.7 billion USD, rose by 3.1% (the first quarter increased by 4.8%).

In the first 6 months of 2019, service export turnover was estimated at 7.9 billion USD, rose by 6.2% over the same period in 2018, of which travel services reached 5.6 billion USD (accounting for 69.9% of total turnover), increasing by 7.8%; transport services reached 1.5 billion USD (accounting for 18.5%), increasing by 2.2%. Service import turnover in the first 6 months of this year was estimated at 9.2 billion USD, rose by 4% over the same period last year, of which transport service gained 4.5 billion USD (accounting for 48.5% of total turnover), rose by 7.1%; tourism reached 2.8 billion USD (accounting for 30.7%), increasing by 0.7%. Trade deficit of services in the first 6 months of 2019 was 1.3 billion USD, equaling 15.9% of service export turnover.

Price index

The Government aim of stabilizing the macro-economy, controlling inflation; proactively managing petroleum, liquefied gas, electricity, textbook and medical service prices at appropriate times; abundant rice supply … were the factors contributed to the decrease of 0.09% of consumer price index in June 2019 over the previous month, on average the price index of the first 6 months of 2019 increased by 2.64% over the same period in 2018, this was the lowest 6-month average increase in the last 3 years[26].

a) Consumer price index

Consumer price index (CPI) in June 2019 decreased by 0.09% compared to the previous month, of which the transport group fell the most with 1.73% because two adjustments of petroleum and oil prices as of June 1^st, 2019 and June 17^th, 2019 made petroleum and oil prices drop 3.9% (making the overall CPI decrease by 0.16%). Housing and construction materials dropped 0.2% mainly because liquefied gas price dropped 8.79% in month (overall CPI dropped 0.11%) and oil price dropped 3.28%; postal services and telecommunications reduced by 0.1%. In June, CPI of 8/11 major groups of goods and services increased over the previous month: Beverage and cigarette rose by 0.33%; education increased by 0.23% (education services increased by 0.15%); culture, entertainment and tourism increased by 0.2%; machinery, instrument and accessory, household appliances, garment, hat and footwear increased by 0.14%; food and catering services increased by 0.12%, of which food dropped by 0.34% because the rice price decreased by 0.54% and foodstuff rose by 0.23%[27]; medicine and medical service rose by 0.05%; other goods and services increased by 0.15%.

Generally for the second quarter of 2019, CPI increased by 0.74% over the previous quarter and rose by 2.65% over the same period in 2018, of which the educational group increased by 6.19% over the same period last year; housing and construction materials increased by 3.6%; food and catering services increased by 3.38%; culture, entertainment and tourism increased by 1.98%; beverage and cigarette rose by 1.93%; garment, hat and footwear increased by 1.8%; household appliances increased by 1.36%; transport increased by 1.03%; other goods and services increased by 2.42%; postal services and telecommunications decreased by 0.72%; medicine and medical service decreased by 0.27%.

Average CPI in the first 6 months of 2019 increased by 2.64% compared to the same period in 2018; June CPI increased by 1.41% compared to December 2018 and grew by 2.16% over the same period last year. Average CPI in the first 6 months of this year increased due to several main reasons as follows: (i) Prices of food products increased by 5.4% over the same period last year, of which pork prices increased by 14.85%^[28] (making CPI rise by 0.62%); beverage and cigarette rose by 1.81%; ready-made clothes increased by 1.68%; public transport services increased by 3.45%; package tours increased by 3.31%. (ii) The price of housing maintenance materials increased by 1.99% compared to the same period last year due to the increasing demand for construction along with the price of cement, iron, steel and construction labor. (iii) The price of textbooks for the school year 2019-2020 increased since April 2019, making the price index of stationery increased by 2.57% compared to the same period in 2018. (iv) The adjustment of the electricity price for households according to the Decision No. 648/QD-BCT dated March 20^th, 2019 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade made the price of electricity in the first 6 months of 2019 increase by 5.84% over the same period in 2018.

Besides, there were some factors that contributed to curbing the CPI growth in the first 6 months of 2019: (i) Price of essential commodities such as petroleum and oil decreased by 3.55% (overall CPI was impacted to decreased by 0.15 %); domestic liquefied gas prices fell by 0.3%. (ii) Ho Chi Minh City adjusted the tuition fee downward in accordance with Resolution No. 25/2018/NQ-HDND dated December 7^th, 2018, making the national general education index in February 2019 drop 0.55% (making the overall CPI decrease by 0.03%). In addition, authorities at all levels and sectors actively implemented measures to stabilize market prices, ensure supply and demand balances, and conduct monetary policies consistently in order to keep macro stability and control inflation.

Core inflation in June 2019 increased by 0.16% over the previous month and rose by 1.96% over the same period last year. The average core inflation in the first 6 months of 2019 increased by 1.87% compared to the same period in 2018.

b) Gold price index and US dollar

Domestic gold price fluctuated according to world gold price. Political tensions in the Middle East and the expectation that the US Federal Reserve would cut interest rates made the world gold price rise the highest in the last 6 years. Average world gold price as of June 24^th, 2019 increased by 5.1% compared to May 2019. The domestic gold price index in June 2019 increased by 1.98% over the previous month; increased by 4.29% compared to December 2018 and an increase of 1.74% compared to the same period last year.

USD price index in June 2019 increased by 0.3% over the previous month; increased by 0.29% compared to December 2018 and increased by 2.52% compared to the same period in 2018.

c) Producer price index (PPI)

PPI for agriculture, forestry and fishery in the second quarter of 2019 decreased by 1.36% compared to the previous quarter and increased by 0.98% over the same period last year, of which respectively the PPI for agriculture decreased by 1.89% and increased by 0.47%; forestry increased by 0.09% and increased by 3.36%; fishery increased by 0.13% and rose by 2.33%. Generally for the first 6 months of 2019, the PPI for agriculture, forestry and fishery increased by 2.29% over the same period in 2018, of which the PPI for agriculture increased by 2.25% ; forestry increased by 3.84%; fishery increased by 2.24%.

PPI for industry in the second quarter increased by 1.34% over the previous quarter and rose by 2.28% over the same period last year, of which respectively the PPI for mining increased by 7.08% and grew by 0.97%; manufacturing increased by 0.44% and increased by 1.55%; production and distribution of electricity, gas, hot water, steam and air conditioning increased by 8.95% and by 11.01%; water supply, waste management and remediation activities, increased by 0.01% and increased by 2.23%. Generally for the first 6 months of 2019, the PPI for industry increased by 1.86% over the same period last year, of which the PPI of mining decreased by 0.82%; manufacturing increased by 1.43%; production and distribution of electricity, gas, hot water, steam and air conditioning increased by 7.13%; water supply, waste management and remediation activities, rose by 2.7%.

PPI for services in the second quarter increased by 0.39% over the previous quarter and rose by 3.3% over the same period last year, of which the service producer price index of some sectors was as follows: accomodation and catering services increased by 1.35% and 3.4%; transport and storage services increased by 0.08% and grew by 3.61%; education and training decreased by 0.24% and increased by 7.33%; health and social work activities increased by 0.06% and rose by 0.43%. Generally for the first 6 months of 2019, the PPI for services increased by 3.37% over the same period in 2018, of which the PPI for education and training services increased by 7.52%; transport, storage increased by 3.96%; accommodation and catering services increased by 3.03%; health and social work activities increased by 0.64%.

d) Merchandise import and export price index

Merchandise export price index of the second quarter of 2019 decreased by 0.36% over the previous quarter and increased by 2.11% over the same period last year, of which the price index of agricultural products and foodstuffs decreased by 0.18% and increased by 0.28%; fuel group increased by 1.91% and rose by 1.32%; processed and manufactured goods dropped by 0.47% and rose by 2.4%, respectively. Generally for the first 6 months of 2019, the merchandise export price index increased by 2.77% over the same period in 2018, of which the price index of agricultural products and foodstuff rose by 0.11%; fuel group increased by 3.57%; processed and manufactured goods increased by 3.12%. Merchandise export price index in the first 6 months of 2019 of some products were as follows: Vegetables and fruits increased by 8.74%; phones and mobile devices increased by 6.86%; petroleum and oil of all kinds increased by 6.08%; wood and wooden products increased by 4.52%; fishery product went up by 3%; pepper decreased by 11.42%; rice decreased by 5.9%; coffee decreased by 3.48%; cashew nuts decreased by 2.52%; crude oil decreased by 0.21%.

Merchandise import price index in the second quarter of 2019 increased by 0.31% over the previous quarter and rose by 0.78% over the same period in 2018, of which the merchandise import price index of agricultural products and foodstuff rose by 0, 92% and rose by 1.74%; fuel group increased by 5.73% and decreased by 1.25%; processed and manufactured goods increased by 0.02% and increased by 0.82%, respectively. Generally for the first 6 months of 2019, the merchandise import price index increased by 0.95% over the same period in 2018, of which the price index of agricultural products and foodstuff rose by 1.32%; fuel group decreased by 1.85%; processed and manufactured goods increased by 1.07%. Merchandise import price indexes in the first 6 months of 2019 of some products were as follows: animal feed and auxiliary materials increased by 10.49%; fruits and vegetables rose by 8.5%; fishery increased by 7.01%; liquefied gas decreased by 10.5%; rubber reduced by 8.51%; wood and wooden products decreased by 5.76%.

Merchandise term of trade^[29] in the second quarter of 2019 decreased by 0.66% compared to the previous quarter and increased by 1.32% over the same period last year. Generally, in the first 6 months of 2019, the merchandise term of trade increased by 1.79% over the same period in 2018, of which the merchandise term of trade of wood and wooden products increased by 10.91%; rubber increased by 7.37%; petroleum of all kinds increased by 6.79%; iron and steel increased by 6.13%; chemicals decreased by 3.95%; fishery decreased by 3.75%; electronic goods, computers and their parts decreased by 2.37%.

III. SOCIAL ISSUES

Labor and employment

In the whole country, the situation of labor and employment in the first 6 months of 2019 showed positive changes. In comparison with the same period last year, the number of employed persons increased, labor structure shifted in a positive direction, sharply reduced the share of labor in agriculture, forestry and fishery sector, increased the share of industry, construction and service sector. Unemployment rate, underemployment rate decreased and income of wage workers tended to increase.

In the second quarter of 2019, the labor force aged 15 and over of the country was estimated at 55.5 million persons, an year on year increase of 25.8 thousand persons due to the increase of demand for employment and seeking for jobs in the population and a rise of 335.1 thousand persons over the same period last year, of which: the number of male employees was 29.1 million persons, accounted for 52.4% and the number of female employees was 26.4 million persons, made up 47.6%. By are, the employed population aged 15 and over working in urban and rural area were 18.5 million persons and 37 million persons, respectively with the corresponding share of 33.4% and 66.6%. Generally for the first 6 months of 2019, the labor force aged 15 and over was 55.4 million persons, an increase of 334 thousand persons compared to the same period last year. The labor force participation rate in the first 6 months of 2019 was estimated at 76.5%, a fall of 0.1 percentage points.

In the second quarter of 2019, the labor force in working age was estimated at 48.9 million persons, an increase of 41.6 thousand persons over the previous quarter and a year on year rise of 454.4 thousand persons, of which: male employees was 26.7 million persons, accounted for 54.6% and female employees was 22.2 million persons, made up 45.4%; employees in urban a rural area was 17 million persons and 31.9 million, respectively with the corresponding share of 34.7% and 65.3%. Generally for the first 6 months of 2019, the labor force in working age was 48.9 million persons, an increase of 450.4 thousand persons over the same period last year.

In the second quarter of 2019, the employed population aged 15 and over was estimated at 54.4 million persons, of which employees of the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector were 19.1 million persons, accounted for 35.1%; the industry and construction sector was 15.9 million persons, made up 29.3%; and the service sector was 19.4 million persons, with the corresponding share of 35.6 %. For the first 6 months of this year, the employed population aged 15 and over was 54.3 million persons, of which employees of the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector was 19.2 million persons, accounted for 35.3%. (A decrease of 3.1 percentage points compared to the same period last year); the industry and construction sector was 15.7 million persons, shared 28.9% (an increase of 2.3 percentage points); the service sector was 19.4 million persons, with the corresponding of 35.8% (a growth of 0.8 percentage points).

In the second quarter of 2019, the national unemployment rate was estimated at 1.98% (the corresponding rate of the first quarter was 2.00%). Generally, in the first 6 months of 2019, the general unemployment rate was 1.99%, of which urban area was 2.95%; rural area was 1.51%[30]. In the second quarter of 2019, the unemployment rate of the labor force in working age was 2.16% (the first quarter was 2.17%). Generally, in the first 6 months of 2019, the unemployment rate in working age was 2.16%, of which urban area was 3.11%; rural area was 1.66%[31]. In the first 6 months of 2019, the young unemployment rate (aged 15-24 years) was estimated at 6.35%, of which urban area was 10.16%; and rural area was 4.66%.

The underemployment rate at working age in Quarter I / 2019 was 1.21%; The second quarter of 2019 was estimated at 1.38%. Generally, for the first 6 months of this year, the underemployment rate at working age was 1.29%, of which urban area was 0.77%; rural areas was 1.57% (The corresponding figures of the first 6 months of 2018 were 1.47%; 0.64%; 1.89% respectively).

Percentage of employment in informal economy in non-agricultural, forestry and fishery households in Quarter I / 2019 was 54.7%; estimated for the second quarter was 54.6%. Generally, in the first 6 months, percentage of employment in the informal economy in non-agricultural, forestry and fishery households was estimated at 54.6%, of which urban and rural area was 46.6%; and 61.5%, respectively (Corresponding figures in the first 6 months of 2018 were 56.3%; 47.9% and 63.3%, respectively).

The second quarter of 2019, the average monthly earnings of wage workers was 6.5 million VND, a fall of 416.3 thousand VND over the previous quarter and rose 796 thousand VND compared to the corresponding period of the preceding year. Generally for the first 6 months of 2019, the average monthly earnings of wage workers was estimated at 6.7 million VND, of which, the figures of male; female; urban and rural were 7.1 million VND and 6.3 million VND, 7.8 million VND, 5.9 million VND, respectively.

In the first 6 months of 2019, average monthly earnings of wage workers of the occupational group of “Leaders, managers and administrator of branches, levels and organizations” was 11.2 million VND, an increase of 1.7 million VND compared to with the same period last year; the group “professionals” was 9.2 million VND, a rise of 1 million VND; the group of “elementary occupations” was 4.8 million VND, an increase of 746 thousand VND.

In the first 6 months of 2019, average monthly earnings of wage workers with university level or higher was 12.7 million VND, an increase of 1.2 million VND over the same period last year; those who uncompleted primary education earned 5 million VND; those who had never attended school got 4.2 million VND.

Living standards and social security

In the whole country, average monthly income per person in 2018 at current prices reached 3.88 million VND (an increase of 778 thousand VND compared to 2016), rose 25.1% over 2016 (urban area and rural area reached 5.62 million VND and 2.99 million VND, respectively with corresponding share of 23.5% and 23.4%), the average period of 2016-2018 increased by 11.9% per year. The growth rate of income at constant prices (income after excluding the price increasing factors) of the period 2016-2018 was 8%, an increase of 1.4 percentage points higher than this figure of the period 2014-2016 but 1 percentage point lower than that figure in the period of 2012-2014. In 2018, average income per person per month at current prices of areas in the whole country were increased compared to 2016, of which the Mekong River Delta was the were with the highest income growth rate with 29.1%, followed by the North and South Central Coast of 27.9%; the Northern Midlands and Mountains area increased by 25.1%; Red River Delta rose 24.5%; the Southeast expanded by 22.5% and the Central Highlands grew up 22.4%. Monthly per capita income of the group of 20% of households with the highest per capita income reached 9.32 million VND, an increase of 23.5% compared to 2016 and 10 times of the group of 20% of households with per capita income of the lowest ones with per capita income of 932 thousand VND, up 20.9%. Income disparities and wealth disparities among the population are also reflected in the income distribution inequality (GINI[32]). The national GINI coefficient in 2018 was 0.424, of which the rural area was 0.407, which was much more different than the 0.372 of the urban area (the corresponding figure in 2016 was 0.431; 0.408; 0.391, respectively).

In terms of expenditure, the average expenditure per person per month of the whole country in 2018 at current prices reached 2.55 million VND, a rise of 18% compared to 2016 (rural and urban area reached 2.1 million VND and 3.5 million VND, respectively with the corresponding growth of 19.3 % and 14.3%, respectively), an average annual increase in the period 2016-2018 of 8.6%. The growth rate of per capita expenditure at constant prices (expenditure after excluding the price increase factor) reached 4.9% per year, lower than the growth rate of 5.2% per year of the period 2014 -2016. In terms of economic regions, the average expenditure per person per month in the period of 2014-2016 increased in all regions, of which the highest growth rate was the Central Highlands (12.5% per year), the slowest was the East Southern region (5.3% per year).

In 2018, the multi-dimensional poverty rate was 6.8%, a decrease of 1.1 percentage points compared to 2017, reaching the goal set out in the national poverty reduction strategy. This downward trend in both urban and rural areas and economic regions was also a positive result of poverty reduction in Viet Nam.

The living standards of the population in the first 6 months of 2019 were generally improved, thanks to the drastic guidance of all levels, sectors and efforts of the people, especially in rural area. The new rural construction program in recent years had positive effects, contributing to improving the lives of people in rural area, promoting the development of the socio-economic infrastructure system in the rural area. The system of cultural and physical foundations and schools were newly built and renovated to meet standards, crop support programs for agricultural production, preferential lending policies for poor and near-poor households, etc … contributed to helping farmers develop production, improve their lives. By the end of June 2019, in the whole country, 4,402 communes (reaching 49.4%) and 76 districts were recognized to meet the new rural standards.

Farmers’ hunger decreased sharply compared to the same period last year. In June, there were 1.7 thousand households suffering from food shortage, a fall of 44.5% over the same period last year, corresponding to 6.9 thousand persons suffering from food shortage, down 44.7%. Generally for the first 6 months of 2019, the whole country recorded 65 thousand households suffering from food shortage, dropped 30.9% over the same period last year, corresponding to 261.9 thousand persons suffering from food shortage, fell by 30%. Food shortage in the first 6 months of this year mainly occurred in provinces: Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Yen Bai, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Gia Lai and Dak Lak. To overcome the hunger problem, from the beginning of the year, all administrative levels, sectors and organizations from the central to local levels supported these households with 3.7 thousand tons of food.

Social security continued to be paid attention by authorities. According to the preliminary report, the total value of gifts had been given to policy beneficiaries, national devotees and social protection beneficiaries in the first 6 months of 2019 were more than 4 trillion VND, including 2.2 trillion VND of gifts and supports the policy beneficiaries; 1.2 trillion VND of support poor households and nearly 0.7 trillion VND to help hunger and other social relief. Besides, nearly 19 million health insurance cards, free health care books /cards were donated to policy beneficiaries in the whole country.

Education and training

In the school year 2018-2019, there were 805.7 thousand classroom teachers in general education in the whole country had, a reduction of 5.5% compared to the previous school year, including: 385.7 thousand primary school teachers, a decrease 2.7%; 286 thousand lower secondary school teachers, a decline of 6.6% and 134 thousand upper secondary teachers, a reduction of 10.8%. In this school year, there were 16.5 million general pupils in the whole country, an increase of 4% over the previous year, including: 8.5 million primary school pupils, an increase of 6.2%; 5.4 million lower secondary school pupils, a rise of 1.5% and 2.6 million pupils in upper secondary schools, an increase of 2%.

There were nearly 900 thousand students registered to take the 2019 national graduation exam of upper secondary schools, held in the direction of tightening discipline, especially detecting the handling of exam fraud and creating favorable and safe conditions for students to take the exam.

Currently, there were over 2,943 vocational education establishments, including establishments, including 397 colleges; 512 secondary schools, 1,031 vocational education centers and 1003 other vocational education establishments. In the first 6 months of this year in the country, vocational training enrolled nearly 1.1 million students, reached 47.8% of the annual plan, of which there were 112 thousand vocational college and secondary students, gained 20%; short-term training and other vocational training programs enrolled 969 thousand people, reached 57% of the annual plan.

Epidemic diseases and food poisoning

In June, the whole country witnessed 4.5 thousand cases of hand, foot and mouth disease; 12.6 thousand cases of hemorrhagic fever; 68 cases of viral encephalitis (2 deaths); 5,612 cases of hay fever like measles, of which 1,266 cases of measles positive. The epidemic situation in the first 6 months of this year showed signs of increasing 3 major epidemics, including cases of hemorrhagic fever; hand, foot and mouth disease and measles. Generally for 6 months in the whole country, there were nearly 18.9 thousand cases of hand, foot and mouth disease; 70.8 thousand cases of hemorrhagic fever (3 deaths); 255 cases of viral encephalitis (10 deaths); 11 cases of meningococcal meningitis (1 death); 27.4 thousand cases of hay fever like measles, including 4.7 thousand cases of measles positive.

As of June 18, 2019 The total number of alive HIV-infected persons over the country was 209.4 thousand persons and the number of cases turned to AIDS was 96.5 thousand persons; the number of persons died of HIV/AIDS in the whole country as of above time-point was 98.3 thousand persons.

In June, there were 6 food poisoning cases, poisoned 60 persons. Generally, in the first 6 months of 2019, there were 36 food poisoning cases in the whole country, poisoned 866 persons, of which 5 died.

Culture activities and sports

Culture and artistic activities in the first 6 months focused on celebrating big holidays and important events of the country. Programs of professional arts, popular arts, and folk games were widely organized from the central to local levels with rich content and national cultural identities. Many events were organized on a large scale and received a great response from the people, contributing to the effective implementation of the country’s political duties, improving the cultural and spiritual life of the people. Some typical cultural and art programs were as follows: The color of the flag I love – the 89^th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam, The victory song, May thanks to him – the 129^th anniversary of Uncle Ho’s birthday, Da Nang International Fireworks Festival 2019.

The mass sports movement took place vigorously throughout the localities with a variety of activities such as organizing folk games, traditional sports, implementing the campaign”All people train their bodies to follow the example of Great Uncle Ho” associated with the campaign “All people unite to build a cultural life” and the “New rural development program”, the Olympic running day for the health of the whole people, the movement for the whole people to practice swimming, prevent drowning in 2019.

On high-performance sports: Training of 1,245 athletes, 249 coaches, 24 foreign experts to prepare forces to participate in 30^th SEA Games and 10^th Para Games, Olympic and Paralympic qualifying in 2020 and other international sports tournaments in 2019. Generally for the first 6 months of 2019, Vietnam’s sports delegation won 91 gold medals, 69 silver medals and 95 bronze medals in international tournaments, of which there were some outstanding achievements: The outstanding U23 Vietnam team ranked first in Group K and won the right to compete in the final round of the Asian U23 Championship in Thailand in 2020; U22 Football team ranked third in Southeast Asia Championship 2019; U16 Women’s football team qualified and participated in the finals of the U16 Asian Championship in 2019; in the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships Cup in Hungary we won 3 gold medals, 3 silver medals and 3 bronze medals; in the Youth World Weightlifting Championships in the United States we won 7 gold medals and 1 bronze medal.

Traffic accident

In the month (from May 16^th to June 15^th), there were 1,425 traffic accidents nationwide, including 786 traffic accidents from less serious and 639 traffic collisions, causing 631 deaths, 439 injuries and 628 minor injuries. Compared to the same period last year, the number of traffic accidents in June 2019 decreased by 5.6% (the number of traffic accidents from less serious increased by 3.1% and the number of traffic collisions decreased by 14, 5%); the number of deaths increased by 0.6%; the number of injured persons decreased by 8% and the number of minor injuries decreased by 20.3%.

Generally, in the first 6 months of 2019, the whole country had 8,204 traffic accidents, including 4,418 traffic accidents from less serious and 3,786 traffic collisions, making 3,759 persons dead, 2,463 persons injured and 3,858 persons slightly injured. Compared to the same period last year, the number of traffic accidents in the first 6 months of this year decreased by 8.8% (the number of traffic accidents from less serious decreased by 4.9%; the number of traffic collisions decreased by 13.1%); the number of deaths decreased by 8.4%; the number of injured persons decreased by 0.1% and the number of minor injuries decreased by 15.4%. On average, per 1 day in 6 months, the whole country had 45 traffic accidents, including 24 traffic accidents from less serious and 21 traffic collisions, causing 21 deaths, 14 injuries and 21 slightly injuries.

Damages caused by natural disasters

Natural disasters occurred in June 2019 were mainly heavy rains, floods, tornadoes, lightning strikes and landslides, causing 14 persons dead and missing, 8 injured; 63 houses collapsed and swept away; nearly 1,000 houses were unroofed and damaged; 902 hectares of rice and vegetables were damaged, and property damage was estimated at over 63 billion VND. Generally in the first 6 months of this year, natural disasters caused 29 persons dead and missing, 39 injured; 649 houses collapsed and swept away, 19.7 thousand houses flooded and damaged; nearly 9.4 thousand hectares of rice and 8.3 thousand hectares of crops damaged. The total value of property damage was estimated at more than 464 billion VND. The localities that suffered the most from natural disasters in the first 6 months were Dien Bien province with 4 deaths, 2 injuries, 18 houses collapsed, swept away, 239 houses damaged, damaged property was estimated at 4 billion VND; Ha Giang province had 2 deaths, 8 injured persons, more than 1 thousand hectares of rice and crops were damaged, 143 houses were collapsed, swept away, nearly 5 thousand houses were flooded and damaged, property damage was estimated at more than 48 billion VND; Thanh Hoa had 1 person died, 1 injured, more than 3.3 thousand hectares of rice and crops were damaged, 6 houses were collapsed, swept away and 1,062 houses were damaged, property damage was estimated at 83 billions VND.

Environment protection, fire and explosion prevention

In 1^st June, 2019 cases of violating regulations of environment protection were found by authorities, of which 1,210 cases were addressed with a total fine of 11.7 billion VND. Generally, in the first 6 months, 5,494 cases of environmental violations in the whole country were found, of which 4,896 cases were addressed with a total fine of 51.4 billion VND.

In June 2019, there were 330 cases of fire and explosion across the country, causing 8 deaths and 15 injuries, with an estimated damage of nearly 194 billion VND. Generally, in the first 6 months of the year, there were 1,911 fires and explosions nationwide, killing 63 people and injuring 98 people, the damage was estimated at over VND 677 billion.

In general, in the context of decline of the world economy and global trade, Vietnamese socio-economy in the second quarter and the first 6 months of 2019 continued to have positive changes thanks to the prompt and decisive management of the Government, the Prime Minister as well as the efforts of localities, enterprise communities and people nationwide. The economy in the first 6 months of this year achieved good growth, which macroeconomic situation was stable, and the inflation was controlled at a low level. The manufacturing and market services continued to grow, being driving forces for economic growth. The supply and demand of domestic goods was guaranteed, foreign direct investment and the business registration situation continued to be the highlights of the economy. The number of employed people increased, the labor structure shifted in a positive direction, the unemployment rate and the underemployment decreased, people’s incomes improved, and social security was paid attention to implementation. However, besides the achieved results, the country’s economy still showed many difficulties, limitations as well as continued to face new challenges: The growth rate saw signs of slowing down. The disbursement progress for public investment was quite low. The export turnover of many leading-edge agricultural, forestry and fishery products tended to decrease significantly. The trade balance leaned on trade deficit. The complicated weather conditions affected agricultural production and people’s life. The livestock activities encountered difficulties due to widespread spread of African swine fever. In addition, with great openness and increasingly deeper international economic integration, the Vietnamese economy was greatly affected by the increasingly complex and unpredictable international economic changes.

The year 2019 was determined by the Government to be a “breakthrough” year to successfully implement the 5-year socio-economic development plan 2016-2020 with the motto “Discipline, integrity, action, creation, breakthrough, and efficiency”. Therefore, in order to well implement the goals and targets of the 2019 socio-economic development, in the coming time, all administrative level, ministries/agencies and localities should continue to synchronously and effectively implement solutions in Resolution No. 01/NQ-CP dated 1^st January, 2019 on the main tasks and solutions to implement the 2019 Socio-Economic Development Plan and Budget estimate; Resolution No. 02/NQ-CP of 1^st January, 2019, on continuing to employ the main tasks and solutions to improve the business environment, national competitiveness in 2019 and orientations to 2021, as well as the Prime Minister’s directives, which focusing on the following main contents:

Firstly, flexibly and prudently operating monetary policy, interest rates, exchange rates, in accordance with domestic and international market developments, harmoniously coordinating with fiscal and other macroeconomic policies to control inflation, support production and business and promote economic growth. Implement the roadmap for adjusting the prices of State-controlled goods at a reasonable time to ensure the goal of controlling inflation in 2019. Meet credit growth requirements for production and business development; controlling credit in a number of potentially risky economic activities, sectors and taking measures to restrict loan sharks.

Secondly, implement measures to control the disease in cattle and poultry to stabilize production. Concentrating resources to prevent the spread of African swine fever, and at the same time preparing to supply enough breeds for repopulation after the diseases, encouraging pig farms to switch to other types of livestock. Continuing to restructure crops in association with markets, which increasing production for short-term crops, especially vegetables and fruits to take advantages of domestic and export markets. Encouraging cooperation in agricultural production, creating value added at all stages, managing product quality and seeking output markets. The fishery activities should link production with processing and consumption, and analyze and forecast well the signals of the market to take appropriate steps.

Thirdly, improving the results of international trade expansion, taking advantage of opportunities from new-generation trade agreements (CPTPP, EVFTA …), boosting export activities, enhancing trade promotion, searching and expanding commodity export markets, avoiding dependence on a certain market, especially export of agricultural and aquatic products, effectively solving the problems of animal and plant quarantine; ensuring good quality and hygiene to boost exports of this group. For pangasius products, in order to maintain market share in the world market, it is recommended that farmers focus on improving product quality, meeting importers’ requirements, and not expanding production areas. Strengthen control and taking measures to deal with fraudulent enterprises which importing goods from abroad but labeling as Vietnamese goods for domestic consumption and export.

Fourthly, accelerate the disbursement of public investment in 2019, removing difficulties for delayed disbursed projects, especially key, large-scale and pervasive projects. Strongly improving the investment environment, substantially reducing business conditions that were barriers to the operation of enterprises and individual business establishments, reforming administrative procedures, creating motivation for development of enterprises and encouraging the establishment of new businesses, creating favorable conditions for businesses to start up quickly and effectively, encouraging individual household establishments to turn into enterprises, creating favorable business conditions for individual establishments to operate stably, in the long term and in compliance with the law. Implementing supporting policies for creative startups to incubate technology and develop ideas and business models.

Fifthly, increase the competitiveness of domestic goods over imported goods, improving product quality for Vietnamese goods to meet demands of Vietnamese people. Promote the development of the manufacturing, especially full-process manufacturing and agricultural product processing; supporting industries, consumer goods production. Address tourism activities, hotels and restaurants to improve the quality of tourist service. Strengthen promotion, development of tourism in order to spread to the development of manufacturing and services, issuing policies and measures to effectively attract international tourists, especially those coming from foreign countries with high level of spending and long-term stay in Viet Nam.

Sixthly, closely monitor the weather conditions, proactively preventing natural disasters to minimize damage. Effectively implement social welfare, employment policies. Implementing the ad hoc assistance, ensuring that people were provided with timely support to overcome difficulties and stabilize life when facing risks, natural disasters. Strengthening the work of ensuring traffic order and safety, environmental protection and fire and explosion prevention./.

GENERAL STATISTICS OFFICE

[1] World Bank – IMF Spring Meetings dated 12^th April, 2019.

[2] The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its global growth forecast for 2019 to 3.3%, 0.2 percentage points lower than the previous forecast of 3.5% and this is the second time in the year IMF dropped its global growth forecast. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also lowered its forecast to 3.2%, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points, for world economic growth in 2019. Meanwhile, the World Bank (WB) only forecasted that global economic growth in 2019 reached at 2.6%, a decline of 0.3 percentage points from the its forecast of 2.9% in January.

[3] The second quarter GDP growth of years 2011-2019 was 5.93%, 5.08%, 5.0%, 5.34%, 6.47%, 5.78%, 6.36%, 6.73%, and 6.71%, respectively.

[4] The 6-month GDP growth of years 2011-2019 was 5.92%, 4.93%, 4.90%, 5.22%, 6.32%, 5.65%, 5.83%, 7.05%, and 6.76%, respectively.

[5] The added value growth rate of the fishery activities in the 6 months of years 2011-2019 was 3.40%, 4.85%, 2.34%, 5.89%, 3.30%, 1.25%, 5.08%, 6.29%, and 6.45%, respectively.

[6] The added value growth rate of the manufacturing activities in the 6 months of years 2012-2019 was 8.96%, 5.61%, 6.61%, 10.0%, 10.50%, 10.52%, 12.87%, and 11.18%, respectively.

[7] The added value growth rate of the service sector in the 6 months of years 2012-2019 was 6.11%, 6.13%, 5.82%, 5.86%, 6.47%, 6.89%, 6.89%, and 6.69%, respectively.

[8]In which: converting 2,4 thousand hectares to non-agricultural land for urbanization; 1.2 thousand hectares converted to other annual crops; 1,5 thousand hectares converted to perennial crops; 0.8 thousand hectares converted to aquaculture; 2.1 thousand hectares of land cannot be sown due to difficulties in irrigation, lack of labor; 1.3 thousand hectares decreased due to unfinished land consolidation, contaminated land and intercropping with perennial crops.

[9] Localities were not recorded African swine fever was: Ninh Thuan, Tay Ninh và Ben Tre.

[10] Pangasius prices currently ranged from 21,500-22,000 VND / kg, sometimes decreased to 20,500-21,000 VND / kg (lower than production costs), lower than 24,500-30,000 VND / kg in the first 3 months of the year.

[11] In mid-May, the price of shrimp was at 88,000-95,000 VND/kg, at the end of May the price was at 81,000-91,000 VND/kg and in June the price decreased to 73,000-79,000 VND/kg.

[12] The fluctuation in the value added growth of the mining and quarrying in the first 6 months of years 2016-2019 was as follows: a decrease of 2.25 %; a reduction of 7.8 %; a decline of 1.32%; an increase of 1.78%.

[13] The safe level of the index of inventory was at 65%.

[14] The number of newly registered enterprises in 6 months of years 2015-2019 was 45,406 enterprises; 54.501 enterprises; 61,276 enterprises; 64,531 enterprises; 66,958 enterprises, respectively.

[15] Source: National Enterprise Registration Information System, Department of Business Registration Agency, Ministry of Planning and Investment.

[16] Compared to the same period last year, the number of enterprises increased by 6.2%; the registered capital rose by 44.2%.

[17] In the first 6 months of 2018, the number of newly registered enterprises increased by 5.3% over the same period last year; the registered capital went up 8.9%; the average registered capital of an enterprise rose by 3.4%.

[18] Corresponding index of the first quarter of 2019: 33.7% of enterprises assessed a better the business production situation than the previous quarter; 25.8% of enterprises face difficulties and 40.5% of enterprises said that the business production situation was stable.

[19] Corresponding index of the first quarter of 2019: 35.1% of enterprises assessed that the production volume increased compared to the previous quarter; 28% of enterprises rated the production volume decreases and 36.9% of enterprises was stable.
Corresponding index of the first quarter of 2019: 31.5% of enterprises had more orders than the previous quarter; 25% of enterprises had fewer orders and 43.5% of enterprises had stable orders.

[20] Corresponding index of the first quarter of 2019: 31.5% of enterprises had more orders than the previous quarter; 25% of enterprises had fewer orders and 43.5% of enterprises had stable orders.

[21] which was lower than the rate of 6 months in 2018 but higher than that of 6 months in 2015-2017. Growth rate of gross retail sales of consumer goods and services of 6 months in 2015-2019 compared to the same period previous was: 10.6%; 10%; 10.3%; 11.9%; 11.5% respectively.

[22] Growth rate of international visitors to Vietnam in the first 6 months in 2016-2019 was as follows: 2016: 22.9%; 2017: 30.2%; 2018: 27.2%; 2019: 7.5%.

[23] The number of newly licensed projects in 6 months of years 2015-2019 was 757; 1,145; 1,183; 1,366 and 1,723, respectively. The realized FDI in the years 2015-2019 were: 6.3 billion USD; 7.3 billion USD; 7.7 billion USD; 8.4 billion USD and 9.1 billion USD, respectively.

[24] Lower than the increase of 19.4% in the first 6 months of 2017 and 16.4% in the first 6 months of 2018.

[25] Particularly, in the first 6 months of 2019, trade surplus with the EU reached 13.6 billion USD, dropped 4.7% compared to the same period last year; trade deficit from China was 20 billion USD, rose by 47.2%; trade deficit from South Korea was 13.7 billion USD, dropped 2.1%; trade deficit from ASEAN was 3.2 billion USD, rose by 5.2%.

[26] Average CPI in the first 6 months of 2017, 2018, 2019 increased by respectively 4.15%; 3.29% and 2.64% over the same period last year.

[27] Although the price of pork decreased by 1.39% due to the prolonged influence of the African swine cholera epidemic, the price index of the foodstuff still increased because the prices of most of the remaining foodstuff products increased: living weight poultry increased by 0.16%; prices of poultry eggs increased by 0.57%; prices of fresh and chilled fish increased by 0.58%; prices of fresh vegetables increased by 2.63%; fresh and processed fruits increased by 2.1%.

[28] Pork prices in the first 6 months of 2019 still increased over the same period last year because pork prices began to decline from March 2019 to early June 2019 (due to the effect of African swine cholera).

[29] Merchandise export price index/merchandise import price index.

[30] Unemployment rate of labor force in the first months of 2018 was 2.00%, of which urban area was 2.96%; rural area was 1.55%.

[31] Unemployment rate of labor force in working age in the first 6 months of 2018 was 2.20%, (of which: urban area: 3.11%; rural area: 1.74%)

[32] The GINI index were from 0 to 1. GINI index was zero, which represented perfect equality and vice versa if the GINI index was 1, it indicated perfect inequality. Accordingly, the greater the value of the GINI index was, the higher the inequality was.

NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE

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