Garments are made by workers of An Phú Printing & Garment Export Co in Hưng Yên Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Trần Việt

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s index of industrial production (IIP) saw a year-on-year increase of 8.8 per cent over the past eight months, extending the recovery of the sector, the General Statistics Office (GSO) has reported.

The processing and manufacturing industry rose by 9.7 per cent, electricity production and distribution soared 11.6 per cent, while water supply, waste and wastewater management and treatment activities were up 7.8 per cent. Meanwhile, the mining sector was down 6 per cent.

In August alone, the IIP increased 2 per cent month-on-month and 9.5 per cent year-on-year, the GSO stated. 

The GSO noted that over the past eight months, some key industrial sectors reported an IIP higher than the same period last year, including rubber and plastic products up 30 per cent; chemicals and chemical products (17.8 per cent); textiles (13.4 per cent); electronics, computers and optical products (10 per cent); and goods production and processing (7.3 per cent).

At the same time, the IIP of some key industrial products also surged, including iron and crude steel, up 31 per cent; fabrics (16 per cent); sugar (14 per cent) and oil and gas (13 per cent).

In contrast, several other products witnessed an IIP fall year-on-year, including liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) down 15 per cent; crude oil (7 per cent); mobile phones (5.2 per cent) and coal (3 per cent).

Among 63 cities and provinces nationwide, 61 experienced a growth in IIP over the past eight months, while the remainder reported an IIP reduction.

Many experts attributed those positive results to the Government's measures aimed at pushing public investment disbursement and the development of key industrial projects, along with FDI attraction and disbursement efforts, which have also helped improve domestic production capacity.

The number of workers in industrial enterprises as of August 11 increased by 0.9 per cent month-on-month and by 4.5 per cent year-on-year. 

In particular, the number of workers in the State-owned enterprise sector remained unchanged compared to the same time last month and rose by 1.5 per cent year-on-year.

The number of workers in non-State enterprises also increased by 0.6 per cent on month and 1.8 per cent on year, while the number in foreign-invested enterprises increased by 1 per cent on month and 5.7 per cent on year. 

Earlier, the S&P Global Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) posted 52.4 points in August, down from 54.7 points in July but still signaling a solid monthly improvement in business conditions midway through the third quarter.

Strong growth in new orders and softer cost pressures led manufacturers to increase purchasing activity sharply during August. The rate of growth also accelerated for the fourth month, the fastest growth rate since May 2022.

Manufacturers remained optimistic that output will increase over the upcoming year based on expectations of further improvements in customer demand and new orders. — VNS