HANOI (AFP): Vietnam's economy grew by more than seven percent in 2024, beating expectations thanks to rising exports, government data showed Monday.
The global manufacturing hub reaped the benefits of an uptick in demand for its products, despite suffering billions of dollars in losses due to deadly Typhoon Yagi.
The 7.09 percent growth rate surpassed the government's 6.5 percent target for the year as well as a forecast from analysts polled by Bloomberg News.
The high growth rate gives the country "important momentum for 2025," said Nguyen Thi Huong, chief of the General Statistics Office (GSO).
Vietnam earned 405 billion dollars from exports in 2024 -- driven by products including electronics, smartphones, and garments -- recording a year-on-year rise of 14 percent, the GSO said in a report.
The United States was the country's biggest export market.
The stellar growth came despite $3.5 billion in economic losses caused by natural disasters -- particularly Typhoon Yagi, which killed more than 300 people when it struck in September.
More than 200 others died or are missing due to landslides, floods and other weather-related events in 2024, while more than 5.4 million cows, chickens and ducks were killed and 410,000 hectares of crops destroyed.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, year-on-year economic growth was 7.55 per cent.
Vietnam's communist government aims to expand the economy by eight percent this year, a target GSO chief Huong said would be a "huge challenge".
To reach this target, Vietnam needs to flexibly control fiscal policies, stabilising exchange and interest rates and "limit sudden increases in price to minimise impact on inflation and people's lives", she said.
The communist state has long been a success story among Asian economies despite suffering a dip last year. In 2023, Vietnam's economy grew by 5.05 per cent. - AFP
