“The first quarter IIP expansion is much lower than the 10.45% expansion in the first quarter of 2018 or the 9% expansion in the first quarter of 2019,” said GSO Director General Nguyen Bich Lam.
The manufacturing sector, the pillar of industrial production, saw its lowest expansion since 2016 at 7.12%, contributing 1.64 percentage points to the general growth of the economy.
Meanwhile, the mining sector declined by 3.18% due to the sharp decrease in extraction of crude oil and gas.
The electricity production and distribution saw stable growth at 7.46%, contributing 0.41 percentage points to the economic growth, and the water supply, waste and wastewater treatment sector rose by 6.67%, contributing 0.05 percentage points to the economy.
According to the GSO, the pandemic outbreak in several countries across the world has affected the source of imported raw materials for domestic industrial production, particularly manufacturing sector.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also negatively impacted a number of other sectors, including the production of machinery and equipment (down 15.4%), the extraction of crude oil and natural gas (down 10.4%), the production of beverages (down 9%), production of wooden products (down 4.2%), the production of apparels (down 3%), and more.
