The country’s total retail sales and services revenue this February crossed 309.3 trillion VND (13 billion USD), data from the General Statistics Office (GSO) has revealed.

The figure is a 6.5 percent decrease from the previous month, but posts a 7.2 percent year-on-year rise, GSO said.

GSO statistician Vu Manh Ha explained that the drop in retail sales and services revenue in February was because Tet (Lunar New Year) fell in January, when people spent a lot.

That’s the reason the total retail sales last month, which accounts for three-fourth of the total purchasing power, dropped 7.6 percent compared to the previous month.

The first two months of the year have seen a total retail sales and services revenue of 604 trillion VND, which is a 5.6 percent year-on-year increase, if rise in prices are ignored.

Retail sales saw a relatively high growth of 9.7 percent compared to the same two-month period last year, to reach 487.4 trillion VND.

Products that saw an increase in sales include food and foodstuff (10 percent), garments and textiles (9.6 percent), transport (9.4 percent) and home appliances (7.7 percent). Culture, tourism and educational products saw a low increase of 5.1 percent.

The hotel-restaurant sector also posted a low growth rate of 4.2 percent in the first two months of the year, compared to the same period in 2016.

The total revenue earned by the hotel-restaurant sector in Hanoi and HCM City saw a 4.1 percent and 3.2 percent year-on-year decrease, respectively. 

A decline was also recorded in places such as Quang Ninh (37 percent), Lao Cai (30 percent), Quang Binh (15.2 percent), Phu Yen (29.4 percent) and Lai Chau (8 percent).

VNA