Vietnam’s GDP expands 5.05 percent in 2023: stats office

Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.05 percent this year, lower than its target of 6.5 percent, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). During the 2011-23 period, the country's 2023 GDP growth was higher than that in 2020 and 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, the GSO informed at a press conference in Hanoi on Friday. The statistics office revealed that Vietnam’s GDP is now estimated at US$430 billion. Retail sales of goods and services totaled VND6,200 trillion ($255.5 billion) in 2023, picking up 9.6 percent over the previous year. As a result, the country enjoyed a trade surplus of $28 billion, surging $16 billion compared with last year.