The total revenue from retail goods and services reached VNĐ704 trillion (US$30.88 billion) in the first two months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 10.1 per cent.

 

If inflation were excluded, the amount marked a surge of 8.7 per cent against the same period last year, according to a report of the General Statistics Office (GSO). This is much higher than the year-on-year growth rate of 5.1 per cent in the first two months of last year.

 

Vũ Mạnh Hà, a GSO expert in domestic economy, said the Lunar New Year (Tết) week-long holiday in early February boosted consumption, besides increasing the demand on entertainment services and travel after Tết.

 

Thus, the total revenue of retail goods accounted for 76.15 per cent of the national revenue to reach VNĐ531.98 trillion, up 10 per cent year-on-year, GSO said.

 

Three of the key products---food, garments and home appliances---gained a growth of 11-11.8 per cent in revenue each. They accounted for 50 per cent of the total national revenue.

 

The tourism sector accounted for one per cent of the total national revenue but had the largest growth rate of 38.42 per cent in revenue because of the high demand for domestic and international tours.

 

The high consumption of retail goods and services was attributed to positive changes in the sale of goods and services, owing to trade promotion programmes and trade fairs on quality goods before, during and after Tết.

 

Hà said the purchasing power of people in the first two months increased sharply in the small and mountainous provinces. They included Đắk Nông (16.79 per cent), Bình Định (14.92 per cent), Bắc Giang (15.46 per cent), Bắc Ninh (15.11 per cent), Quảng Ninh (16.79 per cent), Thái Nguyên (16.12 per cent), Lai Châu (16.5 per cent), Điện Biên (16.8 per cent), Lào Cai (15.8 per cent) and Hà Giang (13.28 per cent).

 

On the other hand, large cities and provinces with large populations earned large volume of revenue from retail and services but did not have a high growth rate in revenue. The only exception was capital city Hà Nội, with a growth rate of 10.26 per cent in revenue. – VNS