Record milestone affirms confidence in the business environment in Vietnam

FDI disbursement reaches highest level ever

At the press conference announcing the socio-economic statistics for the fourth quarter and the whole year 2024, the General Statistics Office reported that the total registered FDI in Vietnam as of December 31, 2024, including new registered capital, adjusted registered capital, and the value of foreign investors' capital contributions and share purchases, reached 38.23 billion USD, a 3.0% decrease compared to the same period last year. Specifically, 3,375 new projects were granted registration certificates with a total capital of 19.73 billion USD, down 1.8% in the number of projects but up 7.6% in the registered capital over the same period last year. Additionally, 1,539 projects adjusted their capital, increasing by 13.96 billion USD, up 50.4% compared to the previous year. There were also 3,502 capital contribution and share purchase registrations by foreign investors, with a total value of 4.54 billion USD, down 48.1% compared to last year.

These projects mainly focused on the manufacturing and processing industries, with 25.58 billion USD accounting for 66.9% of the total registered capital. They were followed by the real estate sector with 6.31 billion USD, accounting for 16.5%.

Realised FDI capital between 2020 and 2024 (in billions,USD). (Source: GSO)

According to the General Statistics Office, the FDI realised in Vietnam in 2024 was estimated at 25.35 billion USD, an increase of 9.4% compared to 2023, marking the highest disbursement level ever and affirming international investors’strong confidence in Vietnam's business environment.

Of this amount, the processing and manufacturing industry accounted for 20.62 billion USD, or 81.4% of the total FDI implemented; real estate business activities reached 1.84 billion USD, accounting for 7.2%; electricity, gas, hot water, steam, and air conditioning production and distribution reached 1.07 billion USD, accounting for 4.2% of the total FDI implemented.

Exports quickly recovered, with a trade surplus estimated at 24.77 billion USD

Not only achieving significant milestones in attracting FDI, but after facing many challenges in 2023, Vietnam's merchandise trade has seen a positive recovery in 2024. According to the figures recently released by the General Statistics Office, the total import-export turnover in 2024 reached over 786 billion USD, up 15.4% over the same period last year.

Notably, Vietnam's export turnover has, for the first time,surpassed the 400 billion USD mark, marking a significant milestone in the country's international integration journey. Specifically, in December 2024, merchandise exports reached 35.53 billion USD, an increase of 5.3% compared to the previous month. For 2024, the figure stood at 405.53 billion USD, up 14.3% from the previous year. Of this, the domestic economic sector reached 114.59 billion USD, up 19.8%, accounting for 28.3% of total exports, while the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) reached 290.94 billion USD, up 12.3%, making up 71.7%.

In 2024, there were 37 items with export turnovers exceeding 1 billion USD, accounting for 94.3% of the total export turnover. Among them, 8 items had export turnovers above 10 billion USD, contributing 69% to the total export turnover of the country. Electronics, computers, and components had the largest export turnover for the year, exceeding 72.5 billion USD, a 26.6% increase compared to 2023. Meanwhile, phones and components reached nearly 53.9 billion USD, securing the second position, a 2.9% increase. Following this, machinery, equipment, tools, and other spare parts reached nearly 52.2 billion USD, marking a 21% increase.

On the other hand, Vietnam's import turnover in December 2024 reached over 35 billion USD, an increase of 7.2% compared to the previous month. For the entire year of 2024, merchandise imports totaled 380.76 billion USD, up 16.7% from the previous year. Of this, the domestic economic sector accounted for 140.11 billion USD, an increase of 19.5%, while the foreign-invested sector reached 240.65 billion USD, up 15.1%. Among the imported commodities in 2024, preliminary data shows that the group of production materials accounted for 356.43 billion USD, making up 93.6%, while consumer goods amounted to 24.33 billion USD, or 6.4% of the total import turnover.

With this result, the trade balance recorded a surplus of 24.77 billion USD, lower than the 28.4 billion USD surplus from the previous year. Specifically, the domestic economic sector had a trade deficit of 25.52 billion USD, while the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) recorded a trade surplus of 50.29 billion USD. Another noteworthy piece of information is that for the entire year of 2024, trade-in services showed a positive outcome. Specifically, the export turnover of services was estimated at 23.85 billion USD, a 17.7% increase from the previous year, with tourism services contributing 12.19 billion USD (accounting for 51.1% of total service exports), up 33.1%, and transport services reaching 6.52 billion USD (accounting for 27.3%), up 5.2%.

In contrast, the import turnover of services for 2024 was estimated at 36.19 billion USD, an increase of 24.4% compared to the previous year. Transport services accounted for 14.6 billion USD (40.3% of total service imports), up 16%, while tourism services reached 12.57 billion USD (34.7%), marking a significant increase of 60.6%. As a result, the service trade balance for 2024 recorded a trade deficit of 12.34 billion USD. However, due to the large surplus in merchandise trade, which amounted to 24.77 billion USD, Vietnam still maintained an overall trade surplus in goods and services.