Ho Chi Minh City’s economy grew by 8.55% in the first half of the year

The above content belongs to the report of Ho Chi Minh City Statistics recently published, in which GRDP in the first quarter increased by 8.57% and in the second quarter increased by 8.53%.

In the same period of 2025, Ho Chi Minh City’s GRDP (formerly) will increase by 7.82%, while the total merger with Binh Duong and Ba Ria – Vung Tau will reach 6.56%.

In the first half of 2026, the service sector is still the main driving force, growing by 8.89%, accounting for 54% of GRDP but contributing 56% to the increase. Of which, transportation increased the highest (13.68%), followed by trade (8.4%), and finance (8.21%). On the contrary, real estate business continues to face difficulties.

Industry and construction expanded by 8.5%, accounting for 32.8% of GRDP and contributing 30.6% to the increase, showing that the growth of this area has not met expectations, according to Ho Chi Minh City Statistics. The bright spot is that the 6-month index of technological production (IIP) increased by 11.1%, higher than the same period (8.6%).

The business environment recorded improvement, with newly registered businesses increasing by 15.6% in licenses and 26.5% in capital over the same period. FDI attraction continued to accelerate, reaching more than 6.8 billion USD, an increase of 114.2%. Of these, 888 new foreign investment projects were licensed with a total registered investment capital of more than 1.1 billion USD.

However, Ho Chi Minh City cannot avoid the impact of many global fluctuations, with energy prices increasing recently. “The city is under clearer pressure from production costs, logistics costs, and prices of goods and services that affect growth momentum,” the report said.

In the first six months, the average consumer price index increased by 4.41%. All groups recorded an increase in price index, the highest being the transportation group (6.19%), followed by the food and catering services group (5.78%) and housing – construction materials (5.22%).

In addition, the progress of public investment disbursement has not reached the set target, especially in some key infrastructure projects. As of June 26, the total disbursed public investment capital was nearly 37,300 billion VND, only reaching 25.3% of the plan assigned by the Government.

This year, Ho Chi Minh City sets a growth target of 10%. With the results of the first half of the year, the GRDP of the economic engine in the last 6 months needs to increase by over 11%. Ho Chi Minh City Statistics said that to promote economic efficiency in the second half of the year, the locality needs to speed up the implementation and disbursement of public investment capital; Stimulate consumer demand and closely monitor market price developments.

At the same time, the city needs to focus on removing difficulties for businesses, especially in capital, production space, administrative procedures, input costs and consumer markets. The city must also continue to improve the business investment environment towards transparency, openness and efficiency, promoting digital transformation, applying science, technology and innovation to increase labor productivity and improve growth quality.