The preliminary data was released on June 24 by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), which reported that the farming sector grew by 2.16%, industry and construction 8.36% and services 6.18%.
The index of industrial production rose 9.6%, compared with the 5.8% rise posted in the same period last year, indicating that manufacturing is making a strong recovery, said Nguyen Phu Ha, head of the MPI’s Department for National Economic Issues.
She said improvement in economic growth was also reflected in rising imports and the return of a trade deficit, estimated at US$3.8 billion with imports and exports valued at US$81.5 billion and US$77.7 billion respectively.
The 17.7% rise in imports in the first half of the year was mainly driven by purchases of machinery, equipment and raw materials for domestic manufacturing.
In the first six months of 2015, total retail sales and consumer services were estimated to rise 9.76% over the same period a year earlier, but the number of international arrivals to Vietnam dropped by 11.3% to 3.8 million.
According to an official from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the recovery in industrial production led to an 11.4% increase in power consumption by this sector, which accounts for more than half of power supply to the whole economy.
In June, annual inflation edged up to 1% from 0.95% in May with the consumer price index posting a one-month gain of 0.35%.
The government aims for growth of 6.2% overall for 2015, up from the expansion of 5.98% in 2014, while targeting inflation of below 5%.
