Socio-economic situation in 2017

General Director of the General Statistics Office Nguyen Bich Lam chaired the Press Conference. Photo: MPI

Speaking at the Press Conference, General Director Nguyen Bich Lam said that the growth rate exceeded the set target of 6.7% and was the highest since 2011 to date, affirming the timeliness and effectiveness of the solutions issued by the Government, drastically directing all levels, sectors, and localities to make joint efforts to implement.

The scale of the economy in 2017 at current prices reached 5,007.9 trillion VND; GDP per capita is estimated to reach 53.5 million VND, equivalent to 2,385 USD, an increase of 170 USD compared to 2016.

In terms of economic structure, the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector accounts for 15.34%; The industrial and construction sector accounts for 33.34%; service sector accounts for 41.32%; Product tax minus product subsidies accounts for 10.00%.

From the perspective of using GDP in 2017, final consumption increased by 7.35% compared to 2016, contributing 5.52 percentage points (of which final consumption of households contributed 5.04 percentage points); Asset accumulation increased by 9.8%, contributing 3.30 percentage points; The gap between import and export of goods and services in the trade deficit reduced the overall growth rate by 2.01 percentage points.

In 2017, the whole country had 126,859 newly registered enterprises with a total registered capital of 1,295.9 trillion VND, an increase of 15.2% in the number of enterprises and an increase of 45.4% in registered capital compared to 2016; The average registered capital of a newly established enterprise reached 10.2 billion VND, an increase of 26.2%. If including 1,869.3 trillion VND of more than 35.2 thousand times businesses changed to increase capital, the total registered capital added to the economy in 2017 is 3,165.2 trillion VND. In addition, there were 26,448 enterprises returning to operation, down 0.9% compared to the previous year, bringing the total number of newly registered enterprises and enterprises returning to operation in the year to 153.3 thousand enterprises. Total number of registered employees of businessesNewly established unions in 2017 were 1,161.3 thousand people, down 8.4% compared to 2016.

The number of businesses temporarily suspending operations in 2017 was 60,553 businesses, down 0.2% compared to the previous year, including 21,684 businesses registered to temporarily suspend operations for a limited time, up 8.9%, and 38,869 businesses temporarily suspended operations without registration or waiting for dissolution, down 4.6%. The number of enterprises completing dissolution procedures in 2017 was 12,113 enterprises, down 2.9% compared to the previous year, of which 11,087 enterprises had capital of less than 10 billion VND, accounting for 91.5%.

Investigation results on business trends of enterprises in the processing and manufacturing industry in the fourth quarter of 2017 showed that: 44.8% of enterprises assessed that the production and business situation in the fourth quarter of 2017 was better than the third quarter; 18.7% of businesses assessed that they were facing difficulties and 36.5% of businesses said that the production and business situation was stable. It is expected that in the first quarter of 2018 compared to the fourth quarter of 2017, 48.2% of businesses evaluate the trend to be better; 16.1% of businesses forecast more difficulties and 35.7% of businesses said that the production and business situation would be stable.

>Panorama of the Press Conference. Photo: MPI

Total realized social investment capital at current prices is estimated to reach 1,667.4 trillion VND, an increase of 12.1% compared to 2016 and equal to 33.3% of GDP, including: State sector capital reached 594.9 trillion VND, accounting for 35.7% of total capital and an increase of 6.7% compared to the previous year; The non-state sector reached 676.3 trillion VND, accounting for 40.5% and increasing by 16.8%; The foreign direct investment sector reached 396.2 trillion VND, accounting for 23.8% and increasing by 12.8%.

Total implemented investment capital from the State budget is estimated to reach 290.5 trillion VND, equal to 94.4% of the year's plan and up 7.2% compared to 2016, including: Centrally managed capital reached 64.4 trillion VND, equal to 91.1% and up 3.9%. Locally managed capital reached 226.1 trillion VND, equal to 95.4% and increased by 8.2%.

As of December 20, 2017, foreign direct investment attracted 2,591 new licensed projects with a registered capital of 21.3 billion USD, an increase of 3.5% in the number of projects and an increase of 42.3% in registered capital compared to the same period in 2016. In addition, there were 1,188 licensed projects from previous years registering to adjust capital. Investment with additional capital reached 8.4 billion USD, an increase of 49.2% over the same period in 2016, bringing the total newly registered capital and increased capital in 2017 to 29.7 billion USD, an increase of 44.2%. Realized foreign direct investment capital is estimated to reach 17.5 billion USD, an increase of 10.8% compared to 2016. In 2017, there were 5,002 capital contributions and share purchases by foreign investors with a total capital contribution value of 6.2 billion USD, an increase of 45.1% compared to 2016.

As of December 15, 2017, total State budget revenue was estimated at 1,104 trillion VND, equal to 91.1% of the year's estimate. Total state budget expenditure is estimated at 1,219.5 trillion VND, equal to 87.7% of the year's estimate.

Export turnover is estimated to reach 213.77 billion USD, up 21.1% compared to 2017, the highest increase in many years. Import turnover is estimated to reach 211.1 billion USD, up 20.8% compared to 2016.

The trade balance of goods for the whole year 2017 had a trade surplus of 2.7 billion USD, of which the domestic economic sector had a trade deficit of 26.1 billion USD; The foreign investment sector had a trade surplus of 28.8 billion USD. The year 2017 also recorded a new record for Vietnam's import and export when the total flow of export and import goods exceeded the 400 billion USD mark./.