Vietnam's industrial production up slightly in 7 months

Vietnam's national index of industrial production advanced 2.6 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of this year, according to the General Statistics Office on Thursday.

The main driver of the rise, the processing and manufacturing sector, went up 4.2 percent, contributing 3.5 percentage points to the overall growth.

Electricity production and distribution sector grew 2.1 percent, contributing 0.2 percentage points, and water supply and waste management grew 3.3 percent, contributing 0.1 percentage points.

Complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic globally have disrupted the supply chain, causing difficulties for industrial production, the office noted.

Production of refined sugar witnessed the largest output reduction year-on-year, at 23.1 percent, followed by automobiles (down 22.3 percent), beer (down 14.9 percent) and crude oil (down 14.1 percent).

Outputs of petroleum and oil went up 18.6 percent, TV sets up 12.4 percent, phone components up 11.4 percent and monosodium glutamate up 10.5 percent.

As of July 1, the total number of employees in the industrial sector declined 1.8 percent year-on-year. Employment in the processing and manufacturing businesses dropped 1.9 percent, while that of mining ones went up 0.4 percent, said the office.