The country’s consumer price index (CPI) in the past nine months grew by 18.16 per cent over the same period last year.

In September CPI rose by 0.82 per cent against August and 22.42 per cent over the same period of 2010, with nine out of 11 commodity groups recording increases ranging from 0.28 to 8.62 per cent.

Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of the third quarter was estimated at VND1,710 trillion ($83.4 billion), up by 5.76 per cent year on year.

The highest growth was seen in the industry and construction sector, which posted a rise of 6.62 per cent over the same period last year, followed by the services and agro-forestry-fishery sectors, with 6.24 per cent and 2.39 per cent, respectively.

In the year to September, Vietnam’s trade deficit fell to $6.9 billion, or 9.8 per cent of Jan-Sep exports, down by 20.46 per cent year on year.

Exports enjoyed a year-on-year increase of 35.4 per cent to $70 billion, and imports by 26.9 per cent to $76.9 billion.

Though rising by 12 per cent year on year, Vietnam’s foreign direct investment in the first three quarters was only $9.9 billion, far from its full-year target of $20 billion.

New projects accounted for $8.23 billion, down 31 per cent, while investors added $1.66 billion to existing projects.

FDI disbursement in the year to date was $8.2 billion, up 2 per cent, and the country’s full-year target of $11.5 billion was achievable.

Total retail sales of consumer goods and services in the first nine months rose by 22.8 per cent year on year to an estimate of VND1,393 trillion.

Of these, the trade sector earned VND1,101 trillion, up by 23.1 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Hotel and restaurant revenues rose 21.9 per cent to VND152 trillion, while service and tourism earned VND124.4 trillion and VND13.7 trillion, up by 22.2 per cent and 16.6 per cent respectively.

Vietnam’s industrial production index (IPI) in the year to September grew 7.8 per cent from the same period last year.

The mining sector posted a growth rate of 8.3 per cent, while growth in the processing and manufacturing sector stood at 10.7 per cent.

The unsold inventory index (UII) of the processing and manufacturing sector as of September 1 declined by 5.5 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Cigarette, dairy products, and paper topped the list of sectors with sharpest UII declines while cement, car and motorbike, and beer were the leading sectors with highest increases.