HANOI, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam recorded a year-on-year gross domestic product (GDP) decline of 6.17 percent in the third quarter of 2021, the sharpest ever contraction in the quarter for the country, due to severe impacts of COVID-19, the country's General Statistics Office announced Wednesday.
A modest GDP growth of just 1.42 percent was posted in the first nine months of this year, lower than the 2.12 percent recorded during the same period last year.
The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected all sectors of the economy, with many key economic localities having to impose prolonged social distancing measures, the office said.
In the first half of this year, Vietnam enjoyed a GDP growth of 5.64 percent, three times the number in the first half of 2020. A growth target of around 6 percent in 2021 was previously set by the country's top legislature.
In a report released Tuesday, the World Bank forecast that Vietnam's economy would grow by 4.8 percent in 2021 before it recovers to the pre-pandemic rate of 6.5 to 7 percent from 2022 onward. Enditem
