AsemconnectVietnam - Vietnam’s industrial production index for the first quarter was estimated to increase by 9% year-on-year (it increased by 8.3% in the first quarter of 2025), of which the processing and manufacturing sector increased by 9.7%, contributing 7.6% to the overall increase.

Industrial production accelerated
The report on the socio-economic situation in the first quarter of 2026, published by the General Statistics Office (Ministry of Finance) on April 4th, showed that the industrial production index (IIP) in March was estimated to increase by 18.8% compared to the previous month and by 6.9% compared to the same period last year. Specifically, the water supply, waste management and wastewater treatment sector increased by 12.1% year-on-year; the processing and manufacturing industry increased by 7.5%; the electricity production and distribution sector increased by 4.6%; and the mining sector increased by 2.6%.
The industrial production index for the first quarter of 2026 was estimated to increase by 9% compared to the same period last year (it 2025 increased by 8.3% in the first quarter of 2025), of which the processing and manufacturing sector increased by 9.7%, contributing 7.6 percentage points to the overall increase; the water supply, waste management and wastewater treatment sector increased by 7.8%, contributing 0.1 percentage point; the electricity production and distribution sector increased by 6.3%, contributing 0.6 percentage points; and the mining sector increased by 4.7%, contributing 0.7 percentage points to the overall increase.
In addition, the production index for the first quarter of 2026 of some key second-level industrial sectors increased compared to the same period last year, such as metal production increased by 22.9%; production of other non-metallic mineral products increased by 19.7%; chemical and chemical product production increased by 18.2%; and motor vehicle production increased by 14.7%. Beverage production increased by 14.5%; production of beds, cabinets, tables, and chairs increased by 13.9%; food processing increased by 12%; textiles increased by 8.6%; garment production increased by 8.4%; production of paper and paper products and production of electronic products, computers, and optical products both increased by 8.3%; wood processing and production of products from wood, bamboo, and rattan (excluding beds, cabinets, tables, and chairs); production of products from straw, reeds, and braided materials increased by 7.3%.
Conversely, the Industrial Production Index (IIP) of some industries increased only slightly or decreased, such as the production of prefabricated metal products (excluding machinery and equipment) increased by 3.1%; mining of hard coal and lignite decreased by 4.8%; production of other transport vehicles decreased by 0.9%.
Many key products showed breakthroughs
According to the General Statistics Office, the industrial production index (IIP) in the first quarter of 2026 increased compared to the same period last year in all 34 localities. Some localities achieved significant increases in the IIP thanks to the processing and manufacturing industry and the electricity production and distribution sector. Conversely, some localities had low IIP growth due to low or declining growth in the processing and manufacturing industry, the mining industry, and the electricity production and distribution sector.
Some key industrial products in the first quarter of 2026 increased compared to the same period last year, such as motorcycles increased by 31.6%; processed seafood increased by 23.4%; steel bars and angles increased by 21.1%; rolled steel increased by 20.3%; chemical paints increased by 19.2%; automobiles increased by 18.5%; powdered milk increased by 14.5%; crude iron and steel increased by 14.3%.
Conversely, some products decreased compared to the same period last year, such as urea fertilizer decreased by 9.6%; mobile phones decreased by 6.6%; NPK compound fertilizer decreased by 5.4%; coal (clean coal) decreased by 4.9%; and textiles made from natural fibers decreased by 3.5%.
According to the General Statistics Office, the consumption index of the entire manufacturing industry in March 2026 increased by 14.7% compared to the previous month and by 1.7% compared to the same period last year. Overall in the first quarter of 2026, the consumption index of the entire manufacturing industry increased by 9.5% compared to the same period in 2025 (the same period in 2025 increased by 5.4%).
The inventory index of the entire manufacturing industry is estimated to increase by 8.5% compared to the same period last month and by 12.9% compared to the same period last year. The average inventory ratio for the entire manufacturing industry in the first quarter of 2026 is 84.8% (compared to 90% in the same period of 2025).
The number of workers employed in industrial enterprises as of March 1, 2026 increased by 1.1% compared to the same period of the previous month and by 2.4% compared to the same period of the previous year. Specifically, the number of workers in state-owned enterprises increased by 0.2% and decreased by 0.2%; in non-state enterprises increased by 1.1% and decreased by 0.4%; and in foreign-invested enterprises increased by 1.2% and increased by 3.4%.
CK
Source: VITIC/congthuong.vn