INTERNATIONAL AND GLOBAL ECONOMIC CONTEXT
The socio-economic of our country in the first three months of 2022 took place in the context that the world economy still maintains its recovery momentum, promoted production activities, and the global supply chain has been gradually opened. However, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has created a major humanitarian crisis that affects millions of people and is a shock to global growth. The high price of commodities on the world market, especially the price of crude oil, natural gas, and liquefied natural gas, increased the most since 2011, putting great pressure on global inflation. Recent forecasts for global growth in 2022 by international organizations are all lower than previous forecasts[1].
Domestically, with the determination to recover and develop the economy so as not to miss the pace with the recovery of the world economy, and at the same time achieve the goal of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, the Government has issued Resolution 11/NQ-CP dated January 30, 2022, on the program of socio-economic recovery and development and the implementation of Resolution No. 43/2022/QH15 of the National Assembly on fiscal and monetary policies to support program. Ministries, branches, and localities have focused on developing action plans to synchronously implement solutions. Along with that, with the support of the people of the country and the faith of the business community, the Government’s socio-economic recovery and development program has brought into play its impact, effectiveness, and created an impetus to restore the economy rapidly and sustainable. In the first three months of 2022, our country’s socio-economy has achieved many positive results, most industries and fields tend to recover and grow again.
Achievements of industries and fields in the first quarter of 2022 are as follows:
I. ECONOMIC GROWTH
1. Gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2022 was estimated to increase by 5.03% over the same period last year, higher than the growth rate of 4.72% in the first quarter of 2021 and 3.66% in the first quarter of 2020 but still lower than the growth rate of 6.85% in the first quarter of 2019. Of which, the agriculture, forestry, and fishery sector increased by 2.45%, contributing 5.76% to the overall growth; the industry and construction sector increased by 6.38%, contributing 51.08%; the service sector increased by 4.58%, contributing 43.16%.
The processing and manufacturing industry continued to play a leading role in the growth of the economy with an increase of 7.79%, contributing 2.05 percentage points. Contributions of some market service industries with a large proportion to the increase in the total added value of the first quarter of this year were as follows: Financial, banking, and insurance activities increased by 9.75% over the same period last year in advance, contributing 0.54 percentage points; transportation and warehousing increased by 7.06%, contributing 0.43 percentage points; wholesale and retail increased by 2.98%, contributing 0.31 percentage points; accommodation and catering services decreased by 1.79%, down 0.04 percentage points.
Regarding the structure of the economy in the first quarter of 2022, the agriculture, forestry, and fishery sector accounted for 10.94%; industry and construction accounted for 37.97%; service sector accounted for 41.70%; product tax minus product subsidies accounted for 9.39% (corresponding structure of the same period in 2021 was 11.61%; 36.61%; 42.38%; 9.40%).
Regarding GDP by use method in the first quarter of 2022, final consumption increased by 4.28% over the same period last year; accumulated assets increased by 3.22%; exports of goods and services increased by 5.08%; imports of goods and services increased by 4.20%.
2. Agricultural production in the first quarter of 2022 took place in relatively favorable weather conditions for spring rice to grow and develop, but due to the complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has greatly affected agricultural production and consumption. Livestock production has been in recovery but faced difficulties due to the high price of animal feed. The development of forestry production, wood processing, and export in the first months of 2022 had many positive signs. Aquaculture and seafood processing activities recovered strongly, the price of pangasius increased to a record level in 2018 after more than two consecutive years at a low level. Shrimp prices also tended to increase. Fishing output decreased due to high gasoline prices, many fishing boats lay ashore.
a) Agriculture
As of the middle of March, the country cultivated 2,959.7 thousand hectares of spring paddy, equaling 99.5% compared with the same period last year, of which: Northern provinces reached 1,048.8 thousand hectares, equaling 99.1%; Southern provinces reached 1,910.9 thousand hectares, equaling 99.6%, particularly the Mekong River Delta region reached 1,507 thousand hectares, equaling 99.2%. In the southern provinces, the Mekong Delta has harvested 785 thousand hectares, accounting for 52.1% of the cultivated area and equaling 114.8% of the same period last year, with an estimated yield of 71.8 quintals/ha, down 0.5 quintals/ha compared to the previous year; production reached 10.8 million tons, fell 165.2 thousand tons.
As of mid-March, Mekong River Delta provinces basically completed harvesting winter paddy 2021-2022. The total cultivated area of the whole region reached 171.2 thousand hectares, equaling 113.6% compared with the previous winter paddy season; the yield of winter rice in the whole region was quite good at 51.6 quintals/ha, an increase of 7.4 quintals/ha compared to the yield of the previous year’s crop, the production reached 881.1 thousand tons, an increase of 215.8 thousand tons.
As of mid-March, localities across the country have planted 336.1 thousand hectares of maize, equaling 99.8% of the same period last year; 52.7 thousand hectares of sweet potatoes, equaling 91.6%; 11 thousand hectares of soybeans, equaling 88.3%; 109.2 thousand hectares of peanuts, equaling 96.6%; 583.7 thousand hectares of vegetables and beans, equaling 101.9%.
In the 1st quarter of 2022, some perennial industrial crops were harvested, of which: tea-shoot production was estimated at 171.3 thousand tons, growing up 2.6% compared with the same period last year; pepper reached 166.1 thousand tons, rising by 3.8%; rubber reached 127 thousand tons, grew up 2.4%; cashew reached 210.7 thousand tons, fell 16.6%. Production of some fruit increased quite well compared with the same period last year: banana reached 654.3 thousand tons, grew up 3.3%; orange reached 263 thousand tons, grew up 2.1%; pine-apple reached 211.2 thousand tons, grew up 3,4%; mango reached 180.9 thousand tons, grew up 2.4%; pomelo reached 158.2 thousand tons, grew up 3.2%. Particularly, dragon fruit reached 349.7 thousand tons, down 3.2% due to facing difficult export.
Buffaloes and cows’ husbandry in the first quarter was affected by severe and harmful colds in February. Pig and poultry farming is gradually stabilizing because businesses, farms, and households were proactive in breeding stock, linking consumption of output products, and ensuring hygiene and biosecurity.
b) Forestry
It was estimated that in the first quarter of 2022, the newly concentrated planted forest area of the whole country reached 35.4 thousand hectares, up 5.1% over the same period last year; the number of scattered planted trees reached 27 million trees, up 8.2%; timber production reached more than 3.1 million m3, an increase of 3.6%; firewood production reached 4.7 million ste, up 0.9%. The damaged forest area was 216.5 hectares, down 40.4% over the same period last year, including the burnt forest area was 7.8 hectares, down 93.2% (in the first quarter of 2021, the burnt forest area was 115.1 ha); the deforested forest area was 208.7 ha, down 15.9%.
c) Fishery
Fishery production in March was estimated at 694.2 thousand tons, up 2% over the same period last year, including Fish reaching 517.4 thousand tons, up 1.9%; shrimp reached 68.2 thousand tons, up 9.1%; other aquatic products reached 108.6 thousand tons, down 1.6%. Generally, in the first quarter of 2022, fishery production was estimated at 1,863.6 thousand tons, up 2% over the same period last year, including Fish reached 1,385.2 thousand tons, up 1.7%; shrimp reached 180.5 thousand tons, up 5.7%; other aquatic products reached 297.9 thousand tons, up 1.2%.
In the first quarter of 2022, aquaculture production was estimated at 988 thousand tons, up 5.1% over the same period last year, of which: Fish reached 716.5 thousand tons, up 4.6%; shrimp reached 148.1 thousand tons, up 7.1%.
Pangasius prices increased sharply due to low domestic and global pangasius supplies. The price of raw pangasius in the Mekong Delta increased sharply after more than two consecutive years at a low level[2], shrimp prices tend to increase [3]. In the first quarter of 2022, the output of black tiger shrimp was 47 thousand tons, down 0.8% over the same period last year; vannamei shrimp production reached 89.1 thousand tons, up 12.9%.
In general, in the first quarter of 2022, catch fishery production was estimated at 875.6 thousand tons, down 1.2% over the same period last year, of which: Fish reached 668.7 thousand tons, down 1.1%; shrimp was 32.4 thousand tons, down 0.3%. The output of marine fishing in the first quarter of 2022 was estimated at 835.3 thousand tons, down 1.3%.
3. Industrial production in the first quarter of 2022 continued to prosper with the value-added of the whole industry increasing by 7.07% over the same period last year, of which the manufacturing increased by 7.79%; electricity production and distribution grew steadily; the mining and quarrying increased positively due to an increase in coal and metal ore
The added value of the whole industry in the first quarter of 2022 was estimated to increase by 7.07% over the same period last year. In which, manufacturing increased by 7.79%, contributing 2.05 percentage points to the general growth of the whole economy; electricity production and distribution increased by 7.42%, contributing 0.29 percentage points; Water supply; sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities increased by 6.54%, contributed 0.04 percentage points; the mining and quarrying increased by 1.23% due to an increase in coal by 3.2%; metal ore by 5%.
Generally, in the first quarter of 2022, the consumption index of the whole manufacturing industry increased by 6.6% over the same period last year (the same period last year went up by 5.8%). The inventory index of the manufacturing industry was estimated as of 31/3/2022 increased by 4.8% over the period month and increased by 17.7 over the same period last year (in the same period of 2022 increased by 22.5%). The average inventory rate of the whole processing and manufacturing industry in the first quarter of 2022 was 79.9% (the same period last year was 75.1%).
4. The situation of business registration in the first quarter of 2022 has many improvements, the number of newly-established enterprises and re-operated enterprises in the first quarter of 2022 increased by 36.7% compared to the same period last year; the total capital registered to the economy increased by 21%, of which the additional registered capital of active enterprises increased by 34.5%. In addition, the results of the survey of business trends of enterprises in the processing and manufacturing industry showed that enterprises are optimistic about the production and business situation in the second quarter of 2022 with 82.3% of enterprises assessing that it will be stable and better than the first quarter of 2022. This is the result of the determination of the National Assembly and the Government to recover and develop the economy in recent years, creating trust and motivation for the business community to develop production and business activities.
a) Enterprise registration status [4]
In March, the whole country had 14.3 thousand newly established enterprises with registered capital was 193.6 trillion VND and a total number of registered employees of 93.8 thousand employees, an increase of 96.3% in the number of enterprises, an increase of 127.3% in registered capital and an increase of 29.2% in the number of employees compared to February 2022. Compared to the same period last year, an increase of 28% in the number of enterprises, 71.3% in registered capital, and 28.8% in the number of employees.
In the first 3 months of 2022, the country had nearly 34.6 thousand newly registered enterprises with a total registered capital of 471.2 trillion VND and the total number of registered employees was nearly 243.5 thousand employees, an increase of 18.1% in the number of enterprises, an increase of 5.2% in registered capital and a decrease of 0.9% in the number of employees compared to the same period last year. The average registered capital of a newly established enterprise in the first 3 months of 2022 reached 13.6 billion VND, down 10.9% compared to the same period in 2021. If including 706.7 trillion VND of the additionally registered capital of 11.8 thousand enterprises that recorded an upward adjustment of capital, the total additional registered capital in the economy in the first three months of 2022 was 1,177.9 trillion VND, an increase of 21% compared to the same period last year. In addition, 25.6 thousand re-operated enterprises (up 73.6% compared to the same period in 2021), bringing the total number of newly-established enterprises and re-operated enterprises in the first 3 months of 2022 to 60.2 thousand enterprises, up 36.7% compared to the same period last year. The average every month had 20 thousand newly established and re-operated enterprises[5].
In the first 3 months of 2022, there were 35.7 thousand enterprises temporarily ceased for a certain time, an increase of 49.7% compared to the same period last year; 11.3 thousand enterprises temporarily ceased and awaited dissolution procedures, an increase of 0.1%; more than 4.3 thousand enterprises completed dissolution procedures, down 16.7%, of which 3.8 thousand enterprises with a capital size of less than 10 billion VND, down 19.7%; 63 enterprises had a capital size of over 100 billion VND, an increase of 28.6%. On average, 17.1 thousand enterprises withdraw from the market each month[6].
b) Business trends of the enterprises
Results of the business tendency survey of manufacturing enterprises in the first quarter of 2022 showed that: 28,4% of enterprises assessed that the business production situation was better than in the fourth quarter of 2021; 35.8% of enterprises said that the business production situation was stable and 35.8% of enterprises faced difficulties[7]. For the expected outcome of the second quarter of 2022, 50% of enterprises presented that the tendency would get better than the first quarter of 2022; 17.7% of enterprises predicted that it would be more difficult and 32.3% of enterprises said that business production situation would be stable.
5. In March, commercial and service activities were quite active; the number of international visitors to Vietnam has increased sharply because our country has opened up to tourism and many international flight routes have been restored; Freight activities recorded a positive increase, but passenger transport still faced many difficulties when the travel demand of people decreased compared to the Lunar New Year holiday along with the Covid-19 epidemic that continued to spread and spread strongly in the community.
Total retail sales of consumer goods and services in March 2022 was estimated at 438 trillion VND, up 2.9% from the previous month and up 9.4% over the same period last year. Generally, in the first quarter of 2022, the total retail sales of consumer goods and services were estimated at 1.318 trillion VND, up 4.4% over the same period last year, if excluding the price factor it was an increase of 1.6% (in the same period in 2021, up 2%).
Generally, in the first quarter of 2022, passenger carried reached 740.8 million passengers, a decrease of 23.6% over the same period last year (the same period of 2021 down 15.5%), the passenger traffic gained 34.8 billion passengers-km, down 15.8% (the same period of 2021 decreased by 22.5%). Freight carried reached 501,8 million tons, up 8.2% against the similar period last year (the same period in 2021 increased by 8.2%), freight traffic gained 94.3 billion tons-km, up 8.8% (the same period of 2021 increased by 5.1%).
Telecommunications activities in the first quarter of 2022 were generally stable with estimated revenue of 83.8 trillion VND, an increase of 5.1% compared to the same period last year (if excluding the price factor, an increase of 4.6%). The total number of telephone subscribers by the end of March 2022 was estimated at 127.2 million subscribers, a decrease of 0.8% compared to the same period last year, of which mobile phone subscribers reached 124.1 million subscribers, down 0.6%. The number of fixed broadband internet subscribers by the end of March 2022 recorded 19.8 million subscribers, up 13.2% compared to the same period last year.
International visitors to Viet Nam in March were estimated at 41.7 thousand arrivals, up 41.4% compared to the previous month and 2.2 times higher than the same period last year. Generally, in the first quarter of 2022, international visitors to Viet Nam was estimated at 91 thousand arrivals, up 89.1% compared to the same period last year[8]. of which visitors coming by airway gained 82.3 thousand persons, accounting for 90.5% of the number of international visitors to Viet Nam, increased by 165.2%; by roadway achieved 8.6 thousand arrivals, accounted for 9.5% and went down by 49.1%; by seaway achieved 36 arrivals, accounted for 0.04% and decreased by 72.1%.
6. In the first quarter of 2022, in the context of the economy facing many difficulties due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the State Bank of Vietnam continued to maintain the operating interest rate, creating favorable conditions for credit institutions to continue to operate. continue to reduce lending interest rates, and support the recovery of the economy. The insurance business grew steadily; The stock market has many positive prospects with the stock market capitalization estimated to increase by 28% over the same period of last year.
As of March 21, 2022, the total means of payment increased by 2.49% compared to the end of 2021 (the same period in 2021 increased by 1.49%); capital mobilization by credit institutions increased by 2.15% (in the same period in 2021, it increased by 0.54%); credit growth of the economy reached 4.03% (in the same period of 2021, it increased by 1.47%).
Premium revenue of the entire insurance market in the first quarter of 2022 was estimated to increase by 13% over the same period last year, of which premium revenue from the life sector increased by 15%, and the non-life insurance sector increased by 9%.
On the stock market, as of March 25, 2022, the VNIndex reached 1,498.5 points, an increase of 0.5% compared to the time of December 31, 2021. As of March 14, 2022, the market capitalization reached 7,628.6 trillion VND, up 28% compared to the same period in 2021. Generally, in the first quarter of 2022, the average transaction value reached 31,409 billion VND/session, up 18.1% compared to the previous year’s average. The stock market currently has 768 listed stocks and fund certificates; 882 shares registered for trading on UPCoM with the total value of listing and registered trading reaching VND 1,777 trillion, up 2.2% compared to the end of 2021.
In the bond market, the average trading value in March 2022 reached 11,217 billion VND/session, down 20.2% from the previous month. Since the beginning of the year, the average transaction value has reached 13,149 billion VND/session, up 15.3% compared to the average in 2021. The bond market currently has 424 listed bond codes with a listed value of more than 1,606 trillion VND, up 2% compared to the end of 2021.
On the derivatives market, the average trading volume of futures products on the VN30 index, from the beginning of the year until now, the average trading volume of futures products on the VN30 index reached 139,076 contracts/session, down 26% compared to the average of the previous year; The average trading value of secured securities reached 38.42 billion VND/session, down 46%.
7. Realized social investment capital in the first quarter of 2022 grew positively, in which foreign direct investment capital realized in Vietnam reached the highest level compared to the first quarter of the years 2018-2022, showing that the Positive effect of mobilizing and using investment capital, this is a great driving force contributing to economic growth in 2022.
The realized investment in the first quarter of 2022 at current prices was estimated at 562.2 trillion VND, a growth of 8.9% over the same period last year, of which: The investment capital of the State sector reached 136.5 trillion VND, representing 24.3% of the total capital and increasing by 9.3% compared to the same period last year; the non-state sector gained 323.1 trillion VND, accounting for 57.5% and rising by 9.1%; the foreign direct investment recorded 102.6 trillion VND, accounting for 18.2% and decreasing by 7.9%.
The foreign direct investment from the beginning of the year as of 20th March 2022[9] including newly registered capital, adjust registered capital, and the total value of capital contribution and share purchases of foreign investors reached 8.91 billion USD, decreased by 12.1% compared to the same period in 2021. There were 341 turns of capital contribution, share purchase caused the increase of charter capital of the enterprise with the value of contributed capital of 819.7 million USD, and 393 turns of foreign investors repurchased domestic shares without increasing the charter capital with a value of 811.4 million USD.
Vietnam’s investment abroad in 3 months of 2022, there were 24 projects newly granted investment certificates with a total investment capital of 180.2 million USD, up 28.5% over the same period of last year; 03 turns of projects adjusted capital with adjusted capital up 31.2 million USD, down 92.8%. Generally, the total investment capital of Vietnam abroad (newly and additionally licensed capital) reached 211.5 million USD, down 63% over the same period last year.
8. State budget revenue from the beginning of the year to 15/3/2022 reached 25.5% of the annual estimate. State budget expenditure reached 15.6% of the annual estimate, ensuring needs of socio-economic development, defense, security, state management, payment of due debts as well as timely payment for specified objects.
The accumulated total state budget revenue from the beginning of the year to March 15, 2022, reached 359.9 trillion VND, equaling 25.5% of the annual estimate, of which: Domestic state budget revenue reached nearly 289 trillion VND, equaling 24.6% of the year estimate; Revenue from crude oil reached 10.7 trillion VND, equaling 37.8%; Balanced budget revenue from import and export activities reached 60.3 trillion VND, equaling 30.3%.
Total state budget expenditure from the beginning of the year to March 15, 2022, reached 278.8 trillion VND, equaling 15.6% of the year estimate, of which: Recurring expenses reached 205 trillion VND, equaling 18.4%; development investment spending 47.4 trillion VND, equaling 9%; debt payment interest was 26.2 trillion VND, equaling 25.3%.
9. In March 2022, the activities of export and import of goods recovered strongly with the total export and import turnover estimated at 66.73 billion USD, up 36.8% over the previous month and up 14.7 % compared to the same period last year. Generally, in the first quarter of 2022, the total export and import turnover of goods reached 176.35 billion USD, up 14.4% over the same period last year, of which exports increased by 12.9%; imports increased by 15.9%
a) Export and import of goods[10]
Export turnover of goods in March 2022 was estimated at 34.06 billion USD, up 45.5% over the previous month. Generally in the first quarter of 2022, export turnover of goods was estimated at 88.58 billion USD, up 12.9% over the same period last year. In which, the domestic economic sector reached 23.27 billion USD, up 22%, accounting for 26.3% of total export turnover; FDI sector (including crude oil) reached 65.31 billion USD, up 10%, accounting for 73.7%. In the first quarter of 2022, there were 15 items with export turnover of over 1 billion USD, accounting for 80% of total export turnover (there were 5 export products with over 5 billion USD, accounting for 58%).
Import turnover of goods in March 2022 was estimated at 32.67 billion USD, up 28.7% over the previous month. Generally in the first quarter of 2022, the import turnover of goods was estimated at 87.77 billion USD, up 15.9% over the same period last year, of which the domestic economic sector reached 29.43 billion USD, up 13.7%; FDI sector reached 58.34 billion USD, up 17.1%. In the first quarter of 2022, there are 16 imported products with a value of over 1 billion USD, accounting for 76.1% of the total import turnover.
The trade balance of goods in February had a trade deficit of 1.96 billion USD[11]; 2 months had a trade deficit of 581 million USD; March was estimated to have a trade surplus of 1.39 billion USD. Generally, in the first quarter of 2022, the trade balance of goods was estimated to have a trade surplus of 809 million USD (in the same period last year, the trade surplus of 2.76 billion USD). In which, the domestic economic sector had a trade deficit of 6.16 billion USD; the FDI sector (including crude oil) had a trade surplus of 6.97 billion USD.
b) Export and import of services
In the first quarter of 2022, service export turnover was estimated at 1.05 billion USD, up 19.6% over the same period last year, of which tourism services gained 77 million USD (accounting for 7.3% of total turnover), an increase of 75%; transportation services reached 140 million USD (accounting for 13.4%), up 97.2%.
Service import turnover in the first quarter of this year was estimated at 5.18 billion USD, up 10% over the same period last year, of which transportation services gained 2.6 billion USD (accounting for 49.4% of total turnover), up 11.3%; tourism services reached 1.1 billion USD (accounting for 20.3%), up 16.7%.
Trade deficit of service in the first quarter of 2022 was 4.1 billion USD (of which transportation and insurance service fees for imported goods were 2.1 billion USD).
10. Petrol and gas prices increase according to world fuel prices; rental housing prices increased again after the Covid-19 epidemic was controlled; the increase in the price of essential consumer goods and services in line with the price of input materials and the price of petrol was the main reason why the consumer price index (CPI) in March 2022 increased by 0.7% compared to the previous month, up 1.91% compared to December 2021 and up 2.41% over the same period in 2021. In the first quarter of 2022, CPI increased by 1.92% over the same period last year, and core inflation increased by 0.81%. Due to the influence of economic, social, and political factors in the world, along with the domestic economic recovery momentum and many countries, the Producer price index, the Input producer price index, the Merchandise import and export price index in the first quarter of 2022 all increased compared to the same period in 2021.
a) Consumer price index
In the increase of 0.7% of CPI in March 2022 compared to the previous month, 10 commodity groups increased in price compared to February, of which the transportation group had the highest increase with 4.8%; Particularly, the group of food and food services with the reduced price. Average CPI in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021 increased by 1.92%; CPI in March 2022 increased by 1.91% compared to December 2021 and 2.41% over the same period in 2021. Core inflation in the first quarter of 2022, up 0.81% compared to the average of the same period in 2021, lower than the general average CPI (up 1.92%) shows that the fluctuations in consumer prices are mainly due to an increase in food, gasoline, oil and gas prices.
b) Gold price index and US dollar
Domestic gold prices fluctuated in the same direction as world gold prices when inflation in countries increased and the impact of the war between Russia and Ukraine. As of March 25, 2022, the average world gold price was at 1,956.07 USD/ounce, up 4.95% compared to February 2022. Domestically, the demand for gold increased, making the gold price index in March 2022 increase by 4.51% compared to the previous month; increased by 9.36% over the same period last year; on average, in the first quarter of 2022, the domestic gold price index increased by 3.52%.
US dollar price index in March 2022 increased by 0.64% over the previous month; down 0.43% over the same period last year; on average, in the first quarter of 2022, the domestic US dollar price index decreased by 0.67%.
c) Producer price index, Price index of materials, fuels used for production and Merchandise import and export price index
The producer price index (PPI) of agricultural, forestry, and fishery in the first quarter of 2022 increased by 1.89% compared to the previous quarter and by 0.58% over the same period last year ; The producer price index of industrial in the first quarter of 2022 increased by 1.09% compared to the previous quarter and by 4.39% over the same period last year.
Input producer price index in the first quarter of 2022 increased by 1.49% compared to the previous quarter and by 5.7% over the same period last year. In which: Price index of raw materials for agricultural, forestry and fishery production increased by 2.21% and 9.1%; used for industrial production, processing, and manufacturing increased by 1.47% and 5.52%; used for construction increased by 1.67%, and 8.26%.
The commodity export price index in the first quarter of 2022 increased by 2.47% compared to the previous quarter and by 7.51% over the same period last year; The import price index of goods in the first quarter of this year increased by 2.7% compared to the previous quarter and increased by 10.98% over the same period last year. The commodity trade rate (TOT)[12] in the first quarter of 2022 decreased by 0.23% compared to the previous quarter and by 3.13% compared to the same period last year.
II. SOME SOCIAL ISSUES
1. The policy of safe, flexible adaptation and effective control of the Covid-19 epidemic made the labor market in the first quarter of 2022 had many signs of prosperity. Labor force, the number of employed people and average monthly income of employees increased compared to the previous quarter and to the same period last year. The unemployment rate and underemployment rate in working-age both decreased compared to the previous quarter, although still higher than the same period last year, but gradually decreasing.
The country’s labor force aged 15 and over in the first quarter of 2022 was estimated at 51.2 million people, an increase of 441.1 thousand people compared to the previous quarter and an increase of 158.9 thousand people over the same period in 2021; the labor force participation rate reached 68.1%, an increase of 0.4 percentage points compared to the previous quarter and a decrease of 0.6 percentage points compared to the same period last year; The number of employed workers aged 15 and above was estimated at 50 million people, an increase of 132.2 thousand people over the same period last year.
The unemployment rate of the labor force at the working age of the whole country in the first quarter of 2022 was estimated at 2.46%, of which in urban areas was 2.88%; in rural areas was 2.19%.
The underemployment rate of the whole country in the first quarter of 2022 was estimated at 3.01%, of which in urban areas was 2.39%; in rural areas was 3.40%.
2. Social security work was concerned and implemented at all levels from the central to local; the program on building a new countryside in recent years has had a positive impact, contributing to improving people’s lives in rural areas, promoting the development of socio-economic infrastructure systems in rural areas.
In the first quarter of this year, the value of gifts for social protection beneficiaries from the budget and socialization was nearly 1 trillion VND; the value of money, gifts and supports for poor and near-poor households was nearly 1.3 trillion VND; the value of money and gifts for preferential subjects who with meritorious services and relatives of people with meritorious services to the revolution was nearly 2.1 trillion VND; supporting sudden and unusual situations (natural disasters, storms, floods…) arising in the locality with nearly 1.9 trillion VND. In addition, more than 25.5 million health insurance cards/books/cards for free medical examination and treatment were distributed and donated to policy beneficiaries nationwide. In addition, support packages due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic continue to be implemented [13]. In addition, to ensure that people were not affected by grain shortages, on March 15, 2022, the Government issued Decision No. 340/QĐ-TTg to export 1,006.6 tons of rice from national reserves to Son La and Dien Bien provinces.
As of February 28, 2022, the whole country has 5,650/8,233 communes (68.6%) reaching new rural standards; there were 561 communes meeting the newly enhanced rural standards; there are 221/664 district-level units in 54 provinces and centrally-run cities that have been recognized by the Prime Minister to complete new rural tasks; 14 provinces reaching 100% of the new rural standard communes.
3. Trước những diễn biến phức tạp của dịch Covid-19, ngành Giáo dục đã triển khai nhiều giải pháp nhằm hướng dẫn địa phương tổ chức dạy học linh hoạt phù hợp với tình hình thực tế với phương châm “Tạm dừng đến trường nhưng không dừng học”. Đến nay, nhiều địa phương đủ điều kiện phòng chống dịch đã đón học sinh trở lại trường học tập trực tiếp và đã tổ chức dạy học 2 buổi/ngày.
Theo Bộ Lao động – Thương Binh và Xã hội, kế hoạch tuyển sinh giáo dục nghề nghiệp năm 2022 là 2.086 nghìn người. Trong đó, trình độ cao đẳng, trung cấp đạt 530 nghìn người; trình độ sơ cấp và các chương trình đào tạo nghề nghiệp khác đạt 1.556 nghìn người. Ước tính tuyển sinh 3 tháng đầu năm 2022 đạt hơn 11.000 người. Công tác rà soát, sắp xếp các cơ sở giáo dục nghề nghiệp công lập thuộc bộ, ngành, địa phương tiếp tục được thực hiện. Ước tính năm 2022 có khoảng 1.877 cơ sở giáo dục nghề nghiệp, trong đó 409 trường cao đẳng; 438 trường trung cấp; 1.030 trung tâm giáo dục nghề nghiệp. Tổng số cơ sở giáo dục nghề nghiệp công lập là 1.184 cơ sở, giảm 4% so với năm 2021.
4. The epidemic of Covid-19 in the world continues to be complicated . In Vietnam, the number of covid-19 cases continues to increase rapidly in localities mainly because the BA.2 variant of the Omicron variant spreads faster, however with a high rate of vaccine coverage, especially taking care of high-risk subjects, the number of severe cases decreased and the death rate per number of cases decreased deeply[14].
In the first 3 months in 2022, there were 9,919 cases of hemorrhagic fever (02 cases died); 406 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease; 28 cases of virus encephalitis; 01 case of meningococcal disease and 07 cases of scarlet fever suspected for measles.
Vietnam is currently one of the six countries with the highest Covid-19 vaccine coverage in the world. As of March 25th, 2022, The total number of doses of Covid-19 vaccine that have been administered was 204,566 thousand doses, of which the first time was 79,974.2 thousand doses; the second time was 76,301 thousand doses; the 3rd time (Additional injections, booster injections and basic 3-dose injections) was 48,290.8 thousand doses.
The total number of alive HIV-infected persons over the country as of March 18, 2021 was 215,062 persons and the number of deaths by HIV/AIDS as of the above time-point was 111,300 persons.
In March 2022, there were 02 cases of food poisoning with 81 persons poisoned. in the first 3 months of 2022, there were 04 cases of food poisoning with 91 poisoned.
5. The protection and promotion of cultural heritage values is concerned and implemented. Developing physical training and sports in general and mass sports in particular has always been a major policy and social policy of our Party and State in order to contribute to promoting the human factor and building social resources.
Some outstanding activities must be mentioned such as: The program of cooperation between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Education and Training in the work of traditional education for pupils and students through cultural heritage for the period of 2021-2026; Decision on registration of intangible cultural heritage Tu Luong Sam Festival (Hai Phong) on the list of national intangible cultural heritage; complete the national dossier of the Ba Chua Xu Festival of Sam Mountain (An Giang) and submit it to UNESCO for inscription on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Exercise and sports movements were widely organized, many mass sports movements were launched, of which the Danang International Marathon 2022 (DNIM 2022) took place on 20th March 2022 with the participation of nearly 5,000 athletes, people, domestic and international tourists; The running tournament for students, S-RACE 2022 has launched and will be held at the end of March 2022 with about 20,000 participating athletes.
Regarding Vietnam’s high-achieving sports, mainly focused on preparing forces to attend the 31st SEA Games in Vietnam, and the 19th ASIAD in China. The preparation for the 31st SEA Games has basically been completed from registration, logistics and other works related to the Games.
6. Traffic accident[15] in March, 2022 decreased on all 3 criteria (number of cases, number of deaths, number of injured) compared to the previous month. Generally, in the first three months of the year, traffic accidents decreased compared to the same period last year, but the number of deaths increased.
In the month (from February 15 to March 14), there were 788 traffic accidents nationwide, including 556 traffic accidents of less serious or more serious and 232 traffic collision cases, causing 491 deaths, 252 injuries and 229 minor injuries. Compared to the previous month, the number of traffic accidents in March decreased by 22.1% (the number of traffic accidents of less serious or more serious decreased by 23.1% and and the number of traffic collisions decreased by 19.4%); the number of deaths decreased by 20.8%; the number of injured people decreased by 29.8% and the number of minor injuries decreased by 24.2%. Compared to the same period last year, the number of traffic accidents in March decreased by 7.4% (the number of traffic accidents of less serious or more serious decreased by 2.6% and the number of traffic collisions decreased by 17.1%); the number of deaths increased by 11.1%; the number of injured people decreased by 26.3% and the number of minor injuries decreased by 22.6%.
Generally, in the first quarter of 2022, there were 2,762 traffic accidents nationwide, including 1,966 traffic accidents of less serious or more serious and 796 traffic collisions, causing 1,676 deaths, 947 people injured and 794 people slightly injured. Compared to the same period last year, the number of traffic accidents in the first 3 months of 2022 decreased by 13.8% (traffic accidents of less serious or more serious decreased by 5.2%; the number of traffic collisions decreased by 29.7%); the number of deaths increased by 0.2%; the number of injured people decreased by 15.6% and the number of people with minor injuries decreased by 37.2%. On average, 1 day in the first 3 months of the year, there were 31 traffic accidents nationwide, including 22 traffic accidents of less serious or more serious and 09 traffic collisions, causing 19 deaths, 11 people injured and 9 people slightly injured.
7. Natural disasters, environmental pollution, fires, and explosions significantly affect people’s lives in some localities.
Generally, in the first 3 months of the year, natural disasters caused 03 deaths and missing; 01 person was injured; 38.6 thousand hectares of rice and 4.1 thousand hectares of crops were damaged; nearly 12.2 thousand cattle and poultry died; nearly 1.5 thousand houses collapsed, washed away and damaged. The total value of property damage caused by natural disasters in the first quarter of 2022 was estimated at more than 832.5 billion VND, 19.6 times higher than the same period last year.
In the first 3 months of the year, 6,068 cases of environmental violations were detected, of which 5,139 cases were handled with a total fine of 65.8 billion VND; there were 446 fires and explosions in the whole country, killing 23 people and injuring 30 people, and property damage was estimated at 56.7 billion VND./.
GENERAL STATISTICS OFFICE
[1] The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predicts that global growth could fall by more than 1 percentage point in 2022, compared with a forecast of 4.5% made in December 2021. Fitch Rating has revised down 0.7 percentage points, forecasting world GDP growth in 2022 to 3.5%. The World Bank forecasts global economic growth will be 4.1% in 2022 while the figure of the International Monetary Fund by 4.4%
[2] In January 2022, the price of raw pangasius 0.9 kg/head in Dong Thap, An Giang, and Can Tho provinces fluctuated at 23.5-24 thousand VND/kg, up 3.5-4.0 thousand VND compared to the same period last year. This price was maintained until the beginning of February. In the middle of February, the price of pangasius increased to 26-28 thousand VND/kg and the first week of March reached 32,000 VND/kg. (Source: http://agromonitor.vn/group/48/280/giam-sat-gia)
[3] The price of vannamei shrimp of 100 shrimps/kg and 70 shrimps/kg tended to increase from mid-January to early March but still not as high as the price in the first two weeks of the year. As of early March 2021, the price of vannamei shrimp in the Southwest region, of 100 shrimps/kg was at 95.5 thousand VND/kg, 70 shrimps/kg was at 117.5 thousand VND/kg (Source: http://agromonitor.vn/group/47/272/giam-sat-gia).
[4] Source: National Enterprise Registration Information System, Business Registration Management Agency, Ministry of Planning and Investment (Received the report on 24th March 2022).
[5] The number of newly established and returning to operations on average a month in the first quarter of 2017-2021 was: 11.9 thousand enterprises; 11.7 thousand enterprises; 14.5 thousand enterprises; 14.8 thousand enterprises; 14.7 thousand enterprises.
[6] Enterprises withdrew from the market on average a month in the first quarter of 2017-2021 were: 8 thousand enterprises; 7.9 thousand enterprises; 11.4 thousand enterprises; 11.6 thousand enterprises; 13.4 thousand enterprises, respectively
[7] Corresponding index of the fourth quarter of 2021: 44% of enterprises rated their business and production situation better joint; 31.1% of enterprises said that the business and production situation was stable and 24.9% of enterprises rated that it was difficult compared to the previous quarter.
[8] Visitors from Asia reached 58.5 thousand arrivals, accounting for 64.3% of the total international visitors to Vietnam, up 37.3% over the same period last year. Visitors from Europe reached 16.6 thousand arrivals, up 360.3%; visitors from the Americas recorded 12.3 thousand arrivals, up 874.2%; visitors from Australia was 3.1 thousand arrivals, up 857.2%; Visitors from Africa gained 449 arrivals, up 48.2%.
[9] According to the report of the Foreign Investment Department, Ministry of Planning and Investment, received on March 22, 2022
[10] Estimated total export and import value in March 2022 provided by the General Department of Customs on March 28, 2022. The General Statistics Office estimated the import and export value of key commodities in March 2022 based on preliminary data provided by the General Department of Customs by March 15, 2022.
[11] Estimated trade deficit in February was 2.34 billion USD.
[12] Commodity export price index compared to commodity import price index..
[13] As of March 22, 2022, the support package under Resolution No. 68/NQ-CP dated July 01, 2021 and Resolution No. 126/NQ-CP dated October 8, 2021 of the Government reached nearly 40.6 trillion VND to support 35.6 million turns of employees and 378.9 thousand employers/business households; The support package under Resolution No. 116/NQ-CP dated September 24, 2021 of the Government reached nearly 38.6 trillion VND, supporting over 13 million labors and 363.6 thousand business units/households. employment.
[14] As of 16:00 pm on March 27th 2022, there were 9,011.5 thousand cases have been reported, of which 5,352 thousand cases have been cured and 42.3 thousand cases died.
[15] According to a quick report from the Office of the Ministry of Public Security and the Vietnam Maritime Administration (Ministry of Transport) from February 15, 2022 to March 14, 2022.