Vietnam’s Industrial Output Posts Highest Eight-Month Growth in Seven Years as Foreign Investment Rises 55.4%

Vietnam’s economy showed broad-based improvement in the first eight months of 2026, with industry, trade, investment, domestic consumption and tourism all recording year-on-year growth.

Industrial production provided the clearest lift. The industrial production index rose 1.5% in August from the previous month and 14.4% from a year earlier. For the January-August period, it increased 11.9%, the highest eight-month growth rate during 2019-2026. No year in that period had previously exceeded 9.5%, while the comparable figure for 2025 was 8.5%.

The rise reached all 34 localities, with each reporting higher industrial output than a year earlier. Employment at industrial enterprises also increased, rising 1% from July and 3.8% from the same date in 2025.

Exports and investment moved in the same direction. Total goods trade reached $770.1 billion, up 28.7% and the highest eight-month figure on record. Exports rose 22.4% to $374.8 billion. Foreign-invested companies, including crude oil, accounted for $300.4 billion, or 80.1% of exports, while domestic businesses contributed $74.5 billion, up 7.4%. Manufactured industrial goods made up 90.2% of exports, worth $338 billion. The United States remained Vietnam’s largest export market, with $122 billion.

Registered foreign investment reached $40.6 billion by Aug. 31, up 55.4% from a year earlier. Disbursed foreign direct investment rose 12% to $17.25 billion. Vietnamese companies also expanded overseas investment, with 113 newly licensed projects totaling $1.21 billion, 2.8 times the previous year’s level. Including adjusted capital, overseas investment reached $2.62 billion, 4.7 times higher.

State-budget investment reached an estimated 546.8 trillion dong, equal to 50.5% of the annual plan and up 18.5% year on year. Retail sales and consumer-service revenue rose 13.3% to 5,235.5 trillion dong, or 7.6% after adjusting for prices. International arrivals reached 15.9 million, up 14.4% and the highest eight-month total in many years.