HANOI, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's consumer market is expected to expand 8 percent to 9 percent this year after getting off a solid recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, Vietnam News reported on Tuesday.
Vietnam's total goods retail sales and consumer service revenues increased 19.8 percent year on year to approximately 5,679.9 trillion Vietnamese dong (about 239 billion U.S. dollars) in 2022, higher than an official target of just 8 percent and the previous year's growth of 10.15 percent, according to the General Statistics Office.
Domestic consumption plays a fundamental role in the country's economic development and is a main driving force boosting growth. The consumer market created 7.2 million jobs last year, equivalent to 14.7 percent of the country's total labor force, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Given the fact that Vietnam's population is going to reach 100 million next month, there is an untapped potential in the local consumer market, said Tran Duy Dong, head of the Domestic Market Department under the trade ministry.
Over the next decade, 36 million more may join Vietnam's consumer class who spend at least 11 U.S. dollars a day, according to a 2021 report by consulting group McKinsey, adding that Vietnam's consumer class would grow rapidly from 10 percent of the population in 2000 to 75 percent by 2030.
The trade ministry said authorities have been reviewing market regulations to support trade flows across the country's regions, develop better connections among major manufacturing hubs, and expand the supply-chain scale.
The government has been encouraging the private sector to join in infrastructure development including markets, mini markets and convenience stores, especially in remote and under-developed regions.
