A family in Tây Ninh Province shopping. The total retail sales of goods and services jumped 8.5 per cent to nearly VNĐ4.15 quadrillion (US$169.7 billion). — VNA/VNS Photo Giang Phương

HÀ NỘI — The total retail sales of goods and services jumped 8.5 per cent to nearly VNĐ4.15 quadrillion (US$169.7 billion) in January – August on improving consumption, production and tourism, according to the latest updates of the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The retail sales of goods totalled nearly VNĐ3.2 trillion, accounting for 77.1 per cent of the total revenue and up 7.3 per cent against the same period last year.

Revenue from food and foodstuffs rose by 10.2 per cent, household appliances up by 10.1 per cent, garments by 8.7 per cent, vehicles by 4 per cent and educational items by 9.6 per cent.

Provinces and cities which saw significant increases in retail revenues included Quảng Ninh, up 10.6 per cent; Hải Phòng, up 9.3 per cent; Cần Thơ, up 7.7 per cent; Đà Nẵng, up 7.6 per cent; HCM City, up 6.8 per cent; and Hà Nội, up 6.3 per cent.

Revenue from accommodation and catering services rose by 14.3 per cent while tourism rose by 26.2 per cent in the period.

The GSO’s report also revealed that international arrivals to Việt Nam reached 1.43 million in August, up 17.7 per cent.

For the eight months, international arrivals totalled 11.4 million, up 45.8 per cent against the same period last year and 1 per cent higher than 2019 before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Provinces and cities with significant increases in accommodation, catering and tourism revenues were Quảng Ninh, Đà Nẵng, Hà Nội, HCM City, Cần Thơ and Bình Dương.

Passenger transportation reached 3.234 billion in the period, up 7.5 per cent while cargo transportation reached 1.686 billion tonnes, up 13 per cent.

The GSO urged the Ministry of Industry and Trade to speed up the review and amendments of legal documents to promote the development of the domestic market.

A close watch will be on the market developments to ensure adequate supply and stable prices of necessary goods in the remaining months of this year. — VNS