Vietnam: Industrial output growth loses pace in May

Vietnam’s industrial sector grew robustly in May but lost some pace from the previous month. Output in the sector grew 7.1% in annual terms in May, following an annual expansion of 9.4% in April.

A breakdown of the data shows the manufacturing sector lost steam, growing 9.1% year-on-year in May following growth of 12.3% yoy in April. The water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector expanded at roughly the same pace as the previous month, growing 8.2% yoy in May compared to 8.3% yoy in April. Conversely, electricity and gas supply growth picked up, rising from 9.6% yoy in April from 11.2% yoy in May. Mining and quarrying output contracted more sharply, falling 7.6% yoy in May which followed a 5.0% yoy drop in the previous month.

In month-on-month terms, industrial production growth picked up slightly from 1.5% in April to 2.2% in May. Annual average growth in industrial output in May remained put at April’s 11.6%.

Vietnam Industrial Production Forecast

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast participants estimate that industrial output will grow 8.7% in 2018, which is up 0.6 percentage points from last month’s forecast. For 2019, panelists expect industrial production to expand 8.6%.