Retail Sales Rise 13 Percent in January
The nation's total revenue from retail sales and services topped VND273.49 trillion (US$13 billion) in January, a year-on-year rise of 13 percent, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported.
Vu Manh Ha, a senior expert at the GSO Trade Department, described it as an encouraging result compared with the average growth rate of 12 percent in the latter half of 2013.
He also attributed the first month's retail sales growth to the rapidly rising demand for commodities during the Lunar New Year holiday.
The trade sector, which accounted for nearly 80 percent of the total revenues, rose 10.8 percent over the same period last year, while the services sector experienced a significant rise of 24.2 percent.
Statistics show that last year, the country's retail industry recorded a yearly increase of 12.6 percent at VND2,618 trillion (US$124.66 billion).
The revenue growth, however, is the lowest over the past four years, compared with 24.5 percent, 14.2 percent and 16 percent in 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively.
During the year, the sector with foreign investments posted the highest revenue rise of 33 percent, following by the private sector with 15.3 percent. Notably, the State-owned sector recorded an 8.6 percent slump in retail sales.
VNA/VOV online
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