The economy of Vietnam is a service sector driven economy. The major exports of the country include petroleum, rice, coffee, fish and clothing.

Gross domestic product

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2011 was USD 115 billion, which increased from USD 101.6 billion in 2010.

(Source: ADB Asianbondsonline)

GDP growth rate for 2012 is estimating 6 to 6.5% as compared to 5.89% in 2011.

(Source: MOF)

In 2010, GDP at (1994) constant price is registered at VND 551,609 billion, a marginal decrease over VND 516,566 billion in 2009.

(Source: National Statistics)

Gross national income

The gross national income (GNI) is VND 1,890,914 billion in 2010, increasing VND 1,658,389 in 2009.

(Source: General Statistics Office)

GNI per capita, PPP

Vietnam’s GNI per capita at PPP in 2010 was USD 2,995 compared to USD 2,274 in 2005.

(Source: UNDP)

Trade

The country’s primary exports include petroleum, rice, textiles, rubber, coffee and sea food. The total value of the country’s exports in 2011 was USD 96.26 billion, increasing 33.3% from 2010. The country’s largest export market is the United States.

The total imports in 2011 amounted to USD 96.26 billion, increasing 24.7% over the previous year. The country major import partner is the China.

The country’s trade deficit in 2010 is estimated at USD 9.52 billion, compared to USD 16.6 billion in 2010.

(Source: MOF)

Individual tax

The tax rates for resident individuals range from 5% to 35% and non-residents income are levied at a flat rate of 20%.

(Source: taxrates)

Corporate tax

Standard corporate tax in Vietnam is 25%.

(Source: taxrates)

Inflation rate

Vietnam's inflation rate in 2011 is estimated to be 18.13%, increasing 6.72% from the previous year. In 2008, the country had witnessed inflation rate of 23.11%, the highest recorded since 2004.

e=estimated

(Source:GSO)

Foreign direct investment (FDI)

The total registered FDI in 2010 was USD 19.89 billion, compared to USD 23.11 billion in 2009.

(Source: GSO)

Consumer price index (CPI)

Base year: 2000 = 100

(Source: IMF)

The consumer price index in Vietnam is rising steadily. In the past decade, the consumer price has more than doubled.

Interest rate

The base interest rate in the country is 9% as of 1^st December 2010.

(Source: State Bank)

Government expenditure

Government expenditures in Vietnam in 2011 was VND 796,000 billion, whereas in 2011 the government revenue was valued at VND674,500billion.

(Source: Ministry of Finance)

Official exchange rate

VND/USD rate for March 2012 was registered at20,828

(Source: Ministry of Finance)

Government finances

 Fiscal balance

Fiscal deficit for 2011 was 4.9% of the GDP amounting to VND 111,500billion.

(Source: IMF)

Total revenue

The country's revenue in 2011 was recorded at VND 674,500billion.

(Source: Ministry of Finance)

Tax revenue

Tax revenue in Vietnamin 2011 amounted to VND 425,000 billion.

(Source: Ministry of Finance)

Total grants

Total grants for the first three quarters of 2011amounted to VND5,500billion.

(Source: Ministry of Finance)

Current account balance

The current account balance of Vietnam has registered a deficit from 2002 to 2011.  In 2011, the current account deficit was 4.7% of the GDP.

(Source: IMF)

Balance of payments

The country’s overall balance of payments in 2010 was a deficit of USD 4.6 billion, as compared to USD 8.8 billion in 2009.

(Source: State Bank)

The labour force in Vietnam was 50.51 million people in 2010, increasing 2.68% compared to 2009. The total manpower of working age in the country was 46.21 million, increasing 2.12% over 2009. The population aged 15 and above in the working force increased from 76.5% in 2009 to 77.3% in 2010.

The labour rate in agriculture, forestry and fishery was 48.2% in 2010; 22.4% in industry and construction sector and 29.4% in the services sector.

(Source: National Statistics)

The unemployment rate in 2010 was 2.88%. The unemployment rate in urban and rural areas was 4.43% and 2.27% respectively.

(Source: National Statistics)

(Source: National Statistics)

Minimum wage

The daily minimum wages in Vietnam varies from VND 36,000 to VND 40,000, and the minimum monthly wages range from VND 1,080,000 to VND 1,200,000.

(Source: nwpc)

Level of unionisation

Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) is the national organisation of trade unions. All the trade unions in the country are formed with the permission and approval of the VGCL. VGCL consists of 64 provincial federations and 20 industrial unions with over 5 million members.

The other trade unions in Vietnam include:

·         Vietnamese Union of Industry and Trade (VUIT)

·         Vietnamese Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO)

(Source: FES)

Vietnam has a socialist republic form of government. All political organisations in the country are under control of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

(Source: fco.gov)

Vietnam’s parliament is unicameral and known as the National Assembly. It is comprised of 493 statutory members directly elected for a term of five years.

(Source: IPU)

The president is the head of the state and also is the commander of the armed forces. The prime minister is the head of the cabinet, which includes three deputy prime ministers and the heads of various ministries. The current president of the country is Nguyen Minh Triet and the prime minister is Nguyen Tan Dung.

(Source: state.gov)

Regulatory environment in Vietnam

The government in Vietnam is based on the Socialist Republic Framework. It is dominated by the communist party.

(Source:Heritage.org)

The country’s economic freedom score is 51.6, making its economy the 139^th freest in 2011 Index of Economic Freedom. Vietnam ranked 30^th out of 41 countries in the Asia-Pacific region and its overall score is lower than the global and regional averages.

Corruption perception

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a survey to measure the perceived level of corruption across countries worldwide. Vietnam ranked 116^th on this list which indicates that the corruption levels in the public departments in the country is fairly high.

(Source:transparency.org)

Freedom of information

Media in Vietnam is restricted. The communist party has a holdon the media and the Ministry of Culture and Information controls the press and broadcasting.

(Source: BBC)

Vietnam ranked 165^th in the world Press Freedom Index 2010 with a score of 75.8 which indicates that media in Vietnam is restricted.

(Source: rsf.org)

Newspapers

·         Nhan Dan

·         Vietnam Economic Times

·         Le Courrier du Vietnam

·         Vietnam News

·         Quan Doi Nhan Dan

(Source: BBC)

Judicial system

The Vietnamese judicial system includes:

·         Organisations for mediation and conciliation

·         People’s courts

·         Military courts

·         Organisations for economic arbitration

The people’s courts includes district courts, provincial courts, and the Supreme People’s Courts. The Supreme Court is under the supervision of the National Assembly.

(Source: aseanlawassociation.org)

The total population of Vietnam in 2010 was 86.93 million, of which 42.97 million were males and 43.96 million were females. The average annual population growth rate was 1.09%.

(Source: National Statistics)

The gender ratio in the country is almost balanced,nthere are about 97.7 males for every 100 females in the country in 2010.

(Source: National Statistics)

Population below 15 years of age in the country is 25.0% of the total population, for the age group of 15-64 years it was 68.4% of the population and 65 years and older was 6.6% of the population (for the year 2009). In 2009, 6.4% women and 5.8% men (% of total population) were aged above 60.

(Source: National Statistics)

Birth and death rate

The total birth rate was 17.6 (per thousands) in 2009. The death rate in 2009 was recorded at 6.8 deaths (per thousands). The mortality rate of infants was registered at 16 (per thousands) live births in 2009.

(Source: National Statistics)

Life expectancy

The average life expectancy in Vietnam for men was 70.2 years and for females it was 75.6 years (2009), while the overall life expectancy was 72.8 years.

(Source: National Statistics)

Migration and urbanisation

International migrant stock till mid 2010 was 69,300 people. This was approximately 0.1% of the entire population.

(Source: UN)

Vietnam is one of the least urbanised countries in Southeast Asian region. According to the 2009 census, out of the total population of 85.85 million, only 29.6% resided in urban areas and 70.4% resided in rural areas. The average annual growth rate of urban population was 3.4% per year, while the rural population grew at the rate of 0.4% per year.

(Source: National Statistics)

Ethnic environment

There are about 54 ethnic groups in the country. The major ethnic group is the Kinh ethnic group, which accounts for 85.7% of the population.

 (Source: National Statistics)

Human development index (HDI)

The country ranks 113^th out of 169 countries on the HDI 2010 conducted by the United Nations. The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income).

(Source: UNDP)

Education

The literacy rate of the population (15 years and above) is estimated at 94%. The government expenditure on education makes up about 5.3% of GDP.

(Source: National Statistics, UNDP)

The education is considered a priority by the government and primary education has been made compulsory.

In the year 2009-10, the country had 149 universities, 227 colleges, 282 professional secondary schools, 207 public schools and 75 public-private schools.

(Source: National Statistics)

Healthcare

The life expectancy is 72.8 years. The government spends 2.8% of the GDP on public health care.

(Source: UNDP)

In 2009, the country had 7.1 doctors for every 10,000 individuals.

The number of HIV/ AIDS patients in the country is increasing. Approximately 231,200 cases were found in the country in 2010, of which 48,900 people died.

(Source: National Statistics)

The mass public transport in the country is mainly through roadways. Within the cities, public transport is dependent on buses. Motorcycles are also a major mode of transport in the cities. Rail services in the country are provided by the Vietnam Railway Cooperation (VRC)

Roadways

The total length of the road network in the country is 210,000 km. Of the total length, 17,300 km are national roads; 17,450 km are provincial roads; 36,400 km are district roads and 7,000 km are urban roads and the remaining are rural roads.

(Source: World Bank)

Railways

The rail network in the country includes seven lines and spans a length of 2,632 km.

(Source: World Bank)

Ports

The ports in Vietnam are – Port of Ba Ngoi, Cam Pha Port, Port of Cao Lanh, Port of Cua Cam, Da Nang Port., Port of Dai Hung, Sa Dec Terminal, Port of Hai Phong, Port of Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon Port, Nha Trang Port, Port of Phu My, Quang Ninh Port, and Vat Cach Port.

(Source:world port source)

Airports

(Source: Aircraft charter world)

Telecommunications networks

In the year 2009, 45.7% of the population used telephone landlines and 13.5% used computers.

(Source: National Statistics)

In 2010, 24.27 million people, or 27.1% of the total population were the internet users. In 2009, a similar 25.7% of the population used internet.

(Source:internetworldstats.com)