In the Report on socio-economic situation in January 2024, the General Department of Statistics announced that in January 2024, the whole country saw the establishment of 13.5 thousand new businesses with a registered capital of 151.5 trillion dong and more than 103.4 thousand registered laborers, an increase of 2.2% in the number of businesses, a decrease of 2.3% in registered capital and an increase of 31.8% in the number of laborers compared to December 2023. Compared to the same period last year, the number of businesses increased by 24.8%, registered capital increased by 52.8% and the number of laborers increased by 50.8%. The average registered capital of a newly established business in the month reached 11.2 billion dong, a decrease of 4.4% compared to the previous month and an increase of 22.4% compared to the same period in 2023. If we consider the additional registered capital of 4.4 thousand businesses that increased their capital, the total additional registered capital injected into the economy in January was 370.1 trillion dong, a decrease of 2.1% compared to the same period last year.
In addition, the whole country had nearly 13.8 thousand businesses returning to operation (2.2 times higher than December 2023 and a decrease of 8.4% compared to the same period last year), bringing the total number of newly established and returning businesses in January 2024 to over 27.3 thousand businesses, an increase of 5.5% compared to the same period last year.
According to the General Department of Statistics, the investment activities in January focused on implementing the capital allocation plan for new projects, projects that are being prepared for investment have completed the necessary procedures and documents, so the implementation volume is mainly at the transitional projects. The rate of investment capital implemented from the State budget is estimated to reach 4.4% of the annual plan, an increase of 12.5% compared to the same period in 2023. Foreign direct investment implemented in January 2024 reached 1.48 billion USD, an increase of 9.6% compared to the same period last year.
The total registered foreign investment in Vietnam as of January 20, 2024 including newly granted capital, adjusted registered capital and value of capital contribution, share purchase by foreign investors reached 2.36 billion USD, an increase of 40.2% compared to the same period last year.
The investment capital implemented from the State budget in January 2024 is estimated at 31.1 trillion dong, equal to 4.4% of the annual plan and an increase of 12.5% compared to the same period last year (equal to 3.8% in the same period of 2023 and an increase of 5.6%).
Regarding the State budget revenue and expenditure, the General Department of Statistics said that in the first 15 days of January 2024, due to production and business activities not reaching the tax filing period, the estimated state budget revenue reached 2.6% of the annual plan. State budget expenditure timely met the needs of operation of the State apparatus, timely payment of salaries, pensions, and well-implemented social security policies for people to celebrate Tet holidays with peace of mind.
Regarding the import and export of goods, the General Department of Statistics also stated that in the first quarter of January 2024 (from January 01 to January 15, 2024), the total import and export turnover of goods reached 29.78 billion USD, an increase of 5.4% compared to the same period last year, of which exports increased by 4.1%; imports increased by 6.8%; trade balance of goods reached a surplus of 0.38 billion USD.
In addition, some localities have increased the prices of medical services according to Circular No. 22/2023/TT-BYT, Vietnam Electricity Group has adjusted the average retail electricity prices and domestic rice prices continue to increase according to the prices of exported rice. These are the main reasons for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in January 2024 to increase by 0.31% compared to the previous month. Compared to the same period in 2023, the CPI in January increased by 3.37%; the core inflation in January 2024 increased by 2.72%.
The core inflation in January 2024 increased by 0.21% compared to the previous month, an increase of 2.72% compared to the same period last year. The core inflation increased by 2.72% compared to the same period last year, lower than the average CPI (which increased by 3.37%) mainly due to the impact of medical service prices and educational service prices, but these are excluded items in the list of core inflation calculation.
