Vietnam records largest GDP decline in 2 decades

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - Vietnam recorded its largest decline in GDP in more than two decades, according to data released Wednesday.

The General Statistics Office (GSO) of the southeast Asian nation said the country’s GDP declined 6.7% in the third quarter, daily Vietnam News reported.

“This is the largest quarterly decline recorded in the history of quarterly GDP statistics since 2000,” the report added.

GSO General Director Nguyen Thi Huong told a news conference in the capital of Hanoi that the loss in the country’s economy was due to “deeply-felt impacts of the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“The negative GDP growth in the third quarter is predictable as in the past three months, many localities across the country had to follow strict social distancing measures, thus halting production,” she said.

Vietnam reported 770,640 COVID-19 cases including 18,936 deaths since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.