Ho Chi Minh City: Economic growth exceeds forecast

Ho Chi Minh City has seen strong economic growth, exceeding the forecasts of international organizations. This shows that the management solutions and determination to operate the megacity with an economic scale accounting for 1/4 of the country are proving effective.

Ho Chi Minh City's economic growth exceeds forecast. Photo by Nguyen Tuan

Ho Chi Minh City Statistics Office has just released a report on the socio -economic situation in the third quarter and the first 9 months of 2025.

Ho Chi Minh City's gross regional domestic product (GRDP) in the third quarter increased by 8.11% over the same period last year, 0.87 percentage points higher than the second quarter.

Positive economic growth in the third quarter contributed to Ho Chi Minh City's nine-month growth reaching 7.07%, 0.51 percentage points higher than the growth in the first half of this year.

Among the main growth drivers, the service sector led the way with an increase of 8.59%, accounting for 51.6% of the city's economy but contributing up to 61.2% to growth.

The commercial sectors, in which e-commerce activities contributed positively; accommodation and catering services increased the highest at 11.73%. The industrial production index (IIP) increased by 6.9% over the same period. The main driving force continued to come from processing and manufacturing.

GRDP structure of Ho Chi Minh City. Source: Ho Chi Minh City Statistical Office

According to the General Statistics Office, the economic trend of Ho Chi Minh City is gradually improving, with each quarter higher than the previous quarter, contrary to the forecast from the beginning of the year by international organizations that the last 6 months of the year would decline due to the impact of US tariffs.

This shows that the management solutions and determination to operate the megacity with an economic scale accounting for one-quarter of the country are being effective.

By expanding development space according to the 2-level urban government model, with the orientation of "1 center, 3 regions, 1 special zone", new room for growth has been created.

However, the initial phase of operation has not yet fully exploited the potential of each area. Ho Chi Minh City is focusing on removing obstacles and perfecting the coordination mechanism. It is forecasted that the production and business situation in the fourth quarter of 2025 will be better than the previous quarter.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/tp-ho-chi-minh-tang-truong-kinh-te-vuot-du-bao-10389417.html