Vietnam’s economy recorded robust growth of 7.52% in the first half of 2025, its highest mid-year performance in more than a decade, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). The announcement comes shortly after Hanoi successfully negotiated a reduction in threatened US tariffs on Vietnamese exports, mitigating potential headwinds to its export-driven economy.
The second quarter of 2025 saw a year-on-year GDP expansion of 7.96%, representing the strongest second-quarter growth since 2022, when the figure peaked at 8.56%. The government has set a full-year growth target of no less than 8%.
“The country’s socio-economic performance in the second quarter and the first six months of 2025 achieved very positive results, approaching the set target in the context of many uncertainties in the world and regional economy,” the GSO noted in its official release.
The latest growth data follows a bilateral trade agreement with the United States announced earlier this week. Under the deal, Vietnam secured a significant reduction in prospective US tariffs, lowering them from a proposed 46% to a minimum rate of 20%, in exchange for expanded market access for American goods.
Vietnam currently holds the third-largest trade surplus with the United States, following China and Mexico. The high surplus had placed the country among the primary targets of the US administration’s tariff initiatives.
-AFP
