Retail sales of goods, services up 13% in Jan-Feb

A customer shops at a market in Thu Duc City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Vietnam's total retail sales of goods and services in the first two months of this year were estimated at VND994.2 trillion ($41.88 billion), up 13% year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office.

Of the total, the retail sales of goods were estimated at VND781.8 trillion, up 10.1% year-on-year, of which the revenue from garment and textile rose by 18.4%, food and food stuff 12.5%, and home appliances 4%.

Meanwhile, a decrease of 3.7% was seen in the group of cultural and educational products, the GSO said.

In the period, the revenue from lodging and catering services reached VND109.1 trillion, a year-on-year rise 31.6%.

Notably, tourism raked in VND4.7 trillion, a 2.2-fold increase compared to the same period of last year, as various activities to welcome the spring were organized across the nation.

The turnover from other services was valued at VND98.6 trillion, up 16.2% year-on-year.

Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Domestic Market Department Tran Duy Dong said that the ministry is striving for an 8-9% increase in total retail sales of goods and services this year.