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Economy overview
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Vietnam is a poor, densely-populated country that has had to recover from the ravages of war, the loss of financial support from the old Soviet Bloc, and the rigidities of a centrally-planned economy. Substantial progress was achieved from 1986 to 1996 in moving forward from an extremely low starting point - growth averaged around 9% per year from 1993 to 1997. The 1997 Asian financial crisis highlighted the problems in the Vietnamese economy, but rather than prompting reform, reaffirmed the government's belief that shifting to a market-oriented economy would lead to disaster. GDP growth of 8.5% in 1997 fell to 6% in 1998 and 5% in 1999. Growth then rose to 6% to 7% in 2000-02 even against the background of global recession. These numbers mask some major difficulties in economic performance. Many domestic industries, including coal, cement, steel, and paper, have reported large stockpiles of inventory and tough competition from more efficient foreign producers. Since the Party elected new leadership in 2001, Vietnamese authorities have reaffirmed their commitment to economic liberalization and have moved to implement the structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more competitive, export-driven industries. The US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement entered into force near the end of 2001 and is expected to significantly increase Vietnam's exports to the US. The US is assisting Vietnam with implementing the legal and structural reforms called for in the agreement.
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GDP
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purchasing power parity - $203.7 billion (2004 est.)
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GDP - real growth rate
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7.2% (2004 est.)
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GDP - per capita
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purchasing power parity - $2,500 (2004 est.)
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GDP - composition by sector
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agriculture: 21.8%
industry: 39.7%
services: 38.5% (2004 est.)
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Investment gross fixed
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33% of GDP (2004 est.)
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Population below poverty line
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37% (1998 est.)
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Household income or consumption by percentage share
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lowest 10%: 3.6%
highest 10%: 29.9% (1998)
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Distribution of family income - Gini index
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36.1 (1998)
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Inflation rate consumer prices
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3.1% (2004 est.)
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Labor force
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45.74 million (2004 est.)
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Labor force by occupation
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agriculture 63%, industry and services 37% (2000 est.)
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Unemployment rate
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6.1% (2004 est.)
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Budget
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revenues: $8.689 billion
expenditures: $9.718 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.8 billion (2004 est.)
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Public debt
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64.3% of GDP (2004 est.)
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Agriculture products
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paddy rice, corn, potatoes, rubber, soybeans, coffee, tea, bananas, sugar; poultry, pigs, fish
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Industries
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food processing, garments, shoes, machine-building, mining, cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil, coal, steel, paper
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Industrial production growth rate
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16% (2004 est.)
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Electricity production
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29.8 billion kWh (2001)
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Electricity production by source
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fossil fuel: 43.7%
hydro: 56.3%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
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Electricity consumption
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27.71 billion kWh (2001)
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Electricity exports
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0 kWh (2001)
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Electricity imports
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0 kWh (2001)
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Oil production
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356,700 bbl/day (2004 est.)
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Oil consumption
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185,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
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Oil exports
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NA (2001)
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Oil imports
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NA (2001)
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Oil proved reserves
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1.4 billion bbl (2004)
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Natural gas production
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1.3 billion cu m (2001 est.)
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Natural gas consumption
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1.3 billion cu m (2001 est.)
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Natural gas exports
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0 cu m (2001 est.)
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Natural gas imports
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0 cu m (2001 est.)
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Natural gas proved reserves
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192.6 billion cu m (2004)
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Current account balance
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$-1.781 billion (2004 est.)
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Exports
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$19.88 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
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Exports commodities
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crude oil, marine products, rice, coffee, rubber, tea, garments, shoes
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Exports partners
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US 21.9%, Japan 13.8%, Australia 6.8%, China 6.5%, Germany 5.8%, Singapore 4.6%, UK 4.4% (2003)
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Imports
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$22.5 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
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Imports commodities
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machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer, steel products, raw cotton, grain, cement, motorcycles
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Imports partners
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China 13.7%, Taiwan 11.4%, Japan 11.3%, South Korea 11%, Singapore 10.4%, US 5.7%, Thailand 5.4%, Hong Kong 4.2% (2003)
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Reserves of foreign exchange gold
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$6.357 billion (2004 est.)
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Debt external
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$14.69 billion (2004 est.)
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Economic aid recipient
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$2.8 billion in credits and grants pledged by international donors for 2000 (2004)
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Currency
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dong (VND)
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Currency code
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VND
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Exchange rates
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dong per US dollar - 15,279.5 (2003), 15,279.5 (2002), 14,725.2 (2001), 14,167.7 (2000), 13,943.2 (1999)
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Fiscal year
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calendar year
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This information was reproduced in part from the CIA World Fact book.
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