Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Industrial production index inchedup 2.6 percent in the first seven months of 2020, the lowest level recorded inmany years due to COVID-19, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
The processing-manufacturing sector recorded a 4.2 percentgrowth; electricity production and distribution 2.1 percent; and water supply,waste and wastewater management and treatment 3.3 percent. Meanwhile, themining industry contracted 7.8 percent.
Pham Dinh Thuy, Director of the GSO’s Industrial StatisticsDepartment, said complex developments of COVID-19 worldwide disrupted thesupply of input materials for industrial production.
Support services for mining and ore exploitation went deepdown by 42.7 percent; motorised vehicle production 15.4 percent; and crude oiland natural gas extraction 11.3 percent.
However, some industries still recorded fair growth such asmedicine, pharmaceutical chemical product, and herbal material manufacturing(27.1 percent), coke and refined petroleum product production (15.9 percent),and metal ore mining (15.7 percent).
Some key products that followed the downward trend weresugar (23.1 percent), automobiles (22.3 percent), beer (14.9 percent), andcrude oil (14.1 percent).
By contrast, other key goods like oil and gas, television,and cellphone components still recorded growth between 10 and 19 percent.
In July alone, the industrial production index growth was3.6 percent against June and 1.1 percent against the same month last year.
The GSO said the number of employees at industrial firms onJuly 1 went up 1.3 percent month on month and down 1.8 percent year on year./.
VNA
