Fashion and apparel products for families and children. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Total retail sales of consumer goods and services in the first five months of this year was estimated at VNĐ2.52 quadrillion ($107.2 billion), a year-on-year rise of 12.6 per cent, the highest recorded in the same period since 2015, reported the General Statistics Office (GSO).

It underlines that the five-month result represents a surge of 28.3 per cent over the same time in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

Specifically, in the January-May period, revenue from retail sales of goods was VNĐ1.99 quadrillion, up 10.7 per cent year on year.

Upturn was seen in sales of food and foodstuff (14.6 per cent), garment and textile (11.1 per cent), home appliances (4.8 per cent), transport vehicle excluding automobiles (4.2 per cent), and educational and cultural products (1.9 per cent).

Strong rise in revenue from retail sales of goods was seen in many localities, led by Bắc Ninh with 19.6 per cent, Bình Định 14.8 per cent, Bình Dương 13.8 per cent, Thanh Hóa 12.1 per cent, and Hải Phòng 10.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, revenue from accommodation and food services in the first five months was estimated at VNĐ268.3 trillion, up 22.1 per cent over the same period last year, and that from other services reached about VNĐ253.6 trillion.

In May alone, revenue from retail sales of consumer goods and services was recorded at VNĐ519 trillion (US$22.09 billion), an increase of 1.5 per cent over the previous month and 11.5 per cent year on year thanks to the long holidays in the beginning of the month, the GSO said.

Deputy Director of Department of Planning and Finance under the Ministry of Industry and Trade Nguyễn Thúy Hiền held that despite the increase, the consuming power of the 100-million-strong market has yet to be fully exploited.

This is one of the reasons why the ministry proposed a reduction of value added tax on a number of goods groups to catalyse consumption, she said, expressing her hope that the cut will help promote goods production, job generation and State budget increase, thus contributing to completing the socio-economic development targets for this year.

Alongside, the ministry will also focus on implementing programmes to promote domestic trade, especially through digital platform and e-commerce, and support local firms to build trademarks, she said. — VNS