HANOI, Mar 3 (NNN-VNA) – Vietnam’s national index of industrial production increased 7.4 percent year on year, in the first two months of this year, according to the country’s General Statistics Office today.
The processing and manufacturing sector, the main driver of the surge, went up 10.4 percent. The electricity production and distribution sector expanded 4.3 percent, and the water supply and waste management sector was up 4.8 percent, said the office.
In Feb alone, the industrial production index plunged 21.1 percent against the previous month, due to impacts of the latest wave of COVID-19 infections, which hit Vietnam since Jan 28, said the office.
Over Jan and Feb, the production of television sets witnessed the largest output increase, year on year, at 61.5 percent, followed by phone accessories (55.7 percent) and rolled steel (47.3 percent).
In the same period, the output of petroleum and oil went down by 55 percent, while that of crude oil went down 10.8 percent.
As of Feb 1, the total number of employees in the industrial sector declined by 2.4 percent year on year. In particular, employment decreased 1.8 percent in mining businesses, and dropped 2.5 percent in processing and manufacturing firms, said the office.– NNN-VNA
