Vietnam quarterly growth surges to more than 9pct

HANOI: Vietnam's quarterly growth surged to 9.95 per cent in the July-September period, up from 8.81 per cent in the previous three months and the fastest pace in four years, according to government data.

The country has long been a success story among Asian economies, and its communist government is targeting double-digit expansion over the next five years.

Growth for the first nine months of 2026 came in at 9.01 per cent, the fastest for the period in 15 years, the National Statistics Office said.

Exports rose 24.5 per cent year on year, while imports increased 36.7 per cent.

Vietnam recorded eight per cent annual growth last year, among the highest in the world despite new tariffs imposed by its largest export market, the US.

The Asian Development Bank late last month revised up its forecast for 2026 annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 7.8 per cent, from 7.2 per cent forecast in July.

This was "underpinned by continued expansion in manufacturing, buoyant domestic consumption, and sustained foreign direct investment", it said.

But it warned that weaker global demand and geopolitical uncertainty could weigh on growth.

In September, FTSE Russell upgraded Vietnam's stock market to secondary emerging market status.