Vietnam expects retail sales to increase by 2.5 times by 2025

Hanoi, March 27 (IANS) Vietnam expects its retail sales to expand by 2.5 times to around $350 billion by 2025, local media reported on Monday, citing the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The Vietnamese retail market, currently worth $142 billion, has an untapped potential due to economic and population growth, reports Xinhua news agency.

Vietnam's population is going to reach 100 million soon in April, marking it as the 15th most populous country in the world.

A population of 100 million would mean a sizable domestic market, and possibilities to attract more foreign direct investment, said the UN Population Fund.

Over the next decade, 36 million more may join Vietnam's consumer class who spend at least $11 a day, according to a 2021 report by consulting group McKinsey, noting that the Southeast Asian nation's consumer class would grow rapidly from 10 per cent of the population in 2000 to 75 per cent by 2030.

Vietnam's total goods retail sales and consumer service revenues increased 19.8 per cent year on year to approximately 5,679.9 trillion Vietnamese dong ($239 billion) in 2022, higher than an official target of just 8 per cent and the previous year's growth of 10.15 per cent, according to the General Statistics Office.

HSBC analysts saw multinational corporations in Asia looking for ways to make new investments in both retail and manufacturing sectors in Vietnam including semiconductors, electronics, mobile components, plastic, renewable energy, and logistics industries.

Thai retail conglomerate Central Group has recently announced an additional investment of $1.45 billion to expand its selling platform in Vietnam.

The retailer sees its operations in the country making the largest contribution of about 22 per cent of the group's total sales, said its country chief executive.

Vietnam's economic growth is backed by public investment, exports, domestic consumption and foreign direct investment.

Companies with investments from foreign firms account for about 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the country's total exports and 25 per cent of domestic investment, according to government data.

Vietnam's economy grew 8.02 per cent last year, exceeding the average of 7.1 per cent from 2016 to 2019, mainly due to a rebound in domestic consumption following Covid-19 and solid performance in export-oriented manufacturing, said the World Bank.

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