Overview: Vietnam has made significant progress in recent years moving away from the planned economic model toward a more effective market-based economic system. Most prices are now fully decontrolled, and the Vietnamese currency has been effectively devalued and floated at world market rates. In addition, the scope for private sector activity has been expanded, primarily through decollectivization of the agricultural sector and introduction of laws giving legal recognition to private business. Nearly three-quarters of export earnings are generated by only two commodities, rice and crude oil. Led by industry and construction, the economy did well in 1993 with output rising perhaps 7%. However, the industrial sector remains burdened by uncompetitive state-owned enterprises the government is unwilling or unable to privatize. Unemployment looms as a serious problem with roughly 25% of the workforce without jobs and with population growth swelling the ranks of the unemployed yearly.

National product: GNP - purchasing power equivalent - $72 billion (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate: 7% (1993 est.)

National product per capita: $1,000 (1993 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.2% (1993 est.)

Unemployment rate: 25% (1993 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $1.9 billion
expenditures: $2 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992)

Exports: $2.6 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities: petroleum, rice, agricultural products, marine products, coffee
partners: Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Germany, Indonesia

Imports: $3.1 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities: petroleum products, steel products, railroad equipment, chemicals, medicines, raw cotton, fertilizer, grain
partners: Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan

External debt: $3.4 billion Western countries; $4.5 billion CEMA debts primarily to Russia; $700 million commercial debts (1993 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate 15% (1992); accounts for 20% of GDP

Electricity:
capacity: 3,300,000 kW
production: 9 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 130 kWh (1992)

Industries: food processing, textiles, machine building, mining, cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil

Agriculture: accounts for almost 40% of GDP; paddy rice, corn, potatoes make up 50% of farm output; commercial crops (rubber, soybeans, coffee, tea, bananas) and animal products 50%; since 1989 self-sufficient in food staple rice; fish catch of 943,100 metric tons (1989 est.)

Illicit drugs: minor opium producer and secondary transit point for Southeast Asian heroin destined for the US and Europe

Economic aid:
recipient: $1.9 billion in credits and grants pledged by international donors for 1994, Japan largest contributor with $550 million

Currency: 1 new dong (D) = 100 xu
Exchange rates: new dong (D) per US$1 - 10,800 (November 1993), 8,100 (July 1991), 7,280 (December 1990), 3,996 (March 1990); note - 1985-89 figures are end of year

Fiscal year: calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Vietnam on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Vietnam Economy 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Vietnam Economy 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.