Unprecedented New Records: Vietnam’s Economy Soars to the Top of High-Growth Nations in the Region

According to the Conference on Summarizing the Work in 2024 and Deploying Tasks for the Industry and Trade Sector in 2025, despite numerous difficulties, Vietnam’s economy continued to show a clear recovery, with each month and quarter performing better than the previous one.

The country’s economic growth rate in 2024 is expected to reach and exceed 7%, placing Vietnam among the few high-growth nations in the region and the world. This is a very positive result, especially considering the implementation of wage increases from July 1, 2024, and the adjustment of prices for some goods and services towards the end of the year, while still keeping inflation under control at below 4%.

Major balances were ensured, especially energy security and the balance of supply and demand for essential goods and raw materials for production…

Along with this, the Vietnamese economy recorded many remarkable achievements and historical records.

Trade Turnover Reaches Historic Milestone of Approximately $800 Billion

Foreign trade activities in 2024 witnessed a strong recovery. Total trade turnover is expected to reach $800 billion, an increase of 15%, nearly two and a half times higher than the government’s target of about 6%. Exports are estimated at over $400 billion, up 14.4%, while imports increased by 16.4%, resulting in a trade surplus of about $25 billion, marking the 9th consecutive year of trade surplus.

The country had 36 export commodities with a turnover of over $1 billion (compared to 33 in the same period last year), accounting for 94.1% of total export turnover (including 7 export commodities with a turnover of over $10 billion, making up 66.5%). There were 44 import commodities with a value of over $1 billion, accounting for 92.6% of total import turnover (including 5 import commodities with a value of over $10 billion, accounting for 51.4%).

The 500kV Line 3 Project Sets Multiple Records

The 500kV Line 3 Quang Trach – Pho Noi project, with a total length of about 519 km and consisting of 1,177 towers, presented numerous challenges due to its tallest tower of 145 meters and heaviest tower of 415 tons, along with harsh weather conditions and difficult terrain. However, after just over 6 months of construction and an enormous amount of work, the project set records in terms of construction time, workload, resource mobilization, and problem-solving mechanisms. This is a remarkable achievement not only for the power industry but also for Vietnam, demonstrating the rapid construction of a complex project in a record-breaking short period. Especially under harsh weather conditions and challenging terrain.

E-Commerce Surpasses $25 Billion

Despite challenges in the global and regional economy, Vietnam’s e-commerce continued to maintain an impressive growth rate of 18-25% annually. In 2024, the e-commerce market size is expected to surpass $25 billion, a 20% increase compared to 2023, accounting for about 9% of the country’s total retail sales of goods and services.

Currently, the e-commerce market size accounts for two-thirds of the country’s digital economy and has helped Vietnam enter the Top 10 countries with the fastest-growing e-commerce in the world, driving economic development and leading digital transformation in enterprises.

Breakthrough in Opening Up Potential Large Markets

On October 28, 2024, after more than a year of negotiations, Vietnam and the UAE successfully concluded the Vietnam – UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). This is the first FTA that Vietnam has signed with an Arab country, opening a new chapter in economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

The signing of the Agreement after just over a year of negotiations also sets a new record, reflecting the proactive and leading role of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in international economic cooperation. With this Agreement, Vietnam now has a total of 19 FTAs, further expanding its global trade integration.

This Agreement opens up countless opportunities for Vietnamese businesses to enter the Halal market. The Halal industry is currently booming, serving over 2 billion Muslims worldwide. The global Halal economy is valued at over $7 trillion in 2024 and is expected to reach approximately $10 trillion by 2028.

Establishing Halal standards from production to distribution is becoming an important trend, creating significant opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises. As agricultural products are the main focus of the Halal market, tapping into this market will fundamentally solve the issue of agricultural exports from Vietnam.

Industry Makes a Strong Comeback with Spectacular Growth

In 2024, domestic industrial production for the first 11 months is estimated to increase by 8.4%, a significant improvement compared to the 0.9% growth rate in the same period in 2023.

Among the industries, manufacturing and processing increased by 9.7% (compared to 1.0% in the same period in 2023), contributing 8.5 percentage points to the overall growth, regaining its role as the main driver of economic growth. Industrial production also recovered and grew across the board, with industrial production growth recorded in 60 out of 63 provinces and centrally-run cities.

In addition, agricultural, forestry, and fishery production and exports witnessed a breakthrough in 2024. Production value grew by over 3.2%, and for the first time, agricultural exports surpassed $60 billion (estimated at $62.7 billion in 2024), an increase of over 18% compared to 2023, with 11 commodities maintaining an export turnover of over $1 billion.

Furthermore, the domestic market grew steadily (nearly 9%). Trade promotion was innovated with the largest series of events to date, and Vietnam’s country brand value surpassed $500 billion, ranking 32nd in the world.