Economy - overview 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 leads to disaster. GDP growth of 8.5% in 1997 fell to 6% in 1998 and 5% in 1999. Growth then rose to 6.8% in 2000 and dropped back to 4.7% in 2001 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. Meanwhile, Vietnamese authorities have moved slowly in implementing the structural reforms needed to revitalize the economy and 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.

GDP purchasing power parity - $168.1 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 4.7% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $2,100 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 25%
industry: 35%
services: 40% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line 37% (1998 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%: 3.6%
highest 10%: 29.9% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index 36.1 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) -0.3% (2001 est.)

Labor force 38.2 million (1998 est.)

Labor force - by occupation agriculture 67%, industry and services 33% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate 25% (1995 est.)

Budget
revenues: $5.3 billion
expenditures: $5.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.8 billion (1999 est.)

Industries food processing, garments, shoes, machine building, mining, cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil, coal, steel, paper

Industrial production growth rate 10.4% (2001 est.)

Electricity - production 25.775 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source
fossil fuel: 40.74%
hydro: 59.26%
other: 0% (2000)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption 23.97 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports 0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports 0 kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products paddy rice, corn, potatoes, rubber, soybeans, coffee, tea, bananas, sugar; poultry, pigs; fish

Exports $15.1 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)

Exports - commodities crude oil, marine products, rice, coffee, rubber, tea, garments, shoes

Exports - partners Japan 18.1%, China 10.6%, Australia 8.8%, Singapore 6.1%, Taiwan 5.2%, Germany 5.1%, US 5.1% (2000)

Imports $15.3 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)

Imports - commodities machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer, steel products, raw cotton, grain, cement, motorcycles

Imports - partners Singapore 17.7%, Japan 14.4%, Taiwan 12.1%, South Korea 11.1%, China 9.1%, Thailand 5.2%, Hong Kong 3.9% (2000)

Debt - external $13.2 billion (2000)

Economic aid - recipient $2.1 billion in credits and grants pledged by international donors for 2000

Currency dong (VND)

Currency code VND

Exchange rates dong per US dollar - 15,085 (January 2002), 14,725 (2001), 14,168 (2000), 13,943 (1999), 13,268 (1998), 11,683 (1997)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Vietnam on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Vietnam Economy 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Vietnam Economy 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.