According to the General Statistics Office, the gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter of 2021 is expected to fall 6.17% from the same period last year, the largest drop since Vietnam calculated and announced quarterly GDP up to now.

On September 29, Nguyen Thi Huong, General Director of the General Statistics Office, stated that the Covid-19 epidemic, which broke out at the end of April 2021, directly hit key economic provinces and cities such as: Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An, Can Tho... and has seriously affected people's lives, health, and production.

GDP in the third quarter of 2021 decreased by 6.17% compared to the same period last year, the largest decrease since Vietnam has calculated and announced quarterly GDP up to now, with the industry and construction sector and the service sector both dropping significantly, by 5.02% and 9.28%.

"With the decrease in the third quarter of 2021, GDP in the first nine months of 2021 only increased by 1.42 percent compared to the same period last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic seriously affecting all sectors of the economy, many key economic localities must implement prolonged social distancing to prevent pandemics." Ms Huong said.

In the overall increase of the economy in 9 months, the agriculture, forestry, and fishery sector increased by 2.74%, contributing 23.52%; the industry and construction sector increased by 3.57%, contributing 98.53%; and the service sector decreased by 0.69%, contributing 22.05%.

“This shows that the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector plays a role as the backbone of the economy during the pandemic, high rice productivity, stable growth of livestock, the export turnover of a number of agricultural products in the first nine months of 2021 is quite good compared to the same period last year, "said Ms. Huong.

Specifically, the agricultural sector increased by 3.32%, contributing 0.31% points to the overall economy's growth rate of total added value; the forestry sector increased by 3.3%, contributing 0.02% points; and the fisheries sector increased by 0.66%, contributing 0.02% points.

The processing and manufacturing industry is the growth engine of the entire economy, with a growth rate of 6.05 percent, contributing 1.53 percentage points to the total added value growth rate of the entire economy.

The electricity generation and distribution industry increased by 5.24%, accounting for 0.2% points of the total. The mining industry fell 7.17%, the energy industry fell 0.27% points due to a 6% drop in crude oil production, and natural gas fell 17.6%. The construction industry dropped 0.58%, or 0.04% points.

According to a representative of the General Statistics Office, the Covid-19 epidemic is complicated and has a significant impact on commercial activities and services. The negative growth of a large proportion of service industries in the first nine months of 2021 has decelerated overall growth in the service sector and the economy.

The wholesale and retail sector decreased by 3.1% over the same period last year, reducing 0.3% points in the overall economy's growth rate of total added value; the transportation and warehousing industry decreased by 7.79%, decreasing by 0.47% points; and accommodation and catering services decreased by 23.18%, decreasing by 0.57% points.

The health sector and social assistance activities grew at the fastest rate, increasing by 21.15% and contributing 0.26% points; financial, banking, and insurance activities increased by 8.37% and contributed 0.45% points; and information and communication activities increased by 5.24% and contributed 0.32% points.

In the first nine months of 2021, agriculture, forestry, and fishery accounted for 12.79% of the economy; industry and construction accounted for 38.03%; the service sector accounted for 40.19%; and product tax minus product subsidies accounted for 8.99%.

In terms of GDP use in the first nine months of 2021, final consumption increased by 1.6% over the same period in 2020; accumulated assets increased by 4.27%; goods and services exports increased by 14.21%; and goods and services imports increased by 18.46%.