CFI Data on Vietnam

Vietnam was the 45th largest economy by nominal GDP in 2018. GDP per capita was $2,564 USD. Since the start of economic reforms in 1986, Vietnam has enjoyed strong economic growth. Trade was 187.5 percent of GDP in 2018. Remittances were 6.5 percent of GDP. It was ranked 48th in the World Bank's Human Capital Index and 83rd in the Economic Complexity Index in 2017. It is a member of ASEAN. Services accounted for 41.2 percent of GDP in 2018, followed by manufacturing (16 percent), and agriculture (14.6 percent). The largest export sectors in 2017 were electronics (37.6 percent), textiles (21.9 percent), agriculture (11.2 percent), and machinery (9.45 percent). The largest individual exports were transmission apparatus for radios, telephones, and television (14.9 percent), electronic integrated circuits (6.64 percent), and telephones (6.39 percent). Its largest export partners were China (19 percent), the USA (17.66 percent), Japan (6.67 percent), and South Korea (5.86 percent). The largest import goods are electronic integrated circuits (12.94 percent), phones (4.88 percent), and refined petroleum (3.23 percent). The Han Chinese gradually asserted control over Vietnam from 220 BC. They maintained control until 938 AD. From 938 AD, Vietnam was ruled by several local dynasties with varying levels of control. These dynasties were interspersed by episodes of Chinese reassertion. In 1858, France invaded and incorporated Vietnam into Indochina in 1887. During WW2, the Viet Minh resisted the Japanese. After WW2, Ho Chi Minh declared independence but the French reasserted control. In 1954, the communists led by Ho Chi Minh defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu, which led to the withdrawal of the French. However, the country was divided north and south at the Geneva conference. North Vietnam wanted to reunite the country, but the US provided aid and arms to the South. By 1965, US involvement had turned into outright war, which ended with US troop withdrawal in 1973 and the fall of Saigon in 1975. The first decade after unification saw slow economic growth because of international isolation and conservative economic policies. Economic reforms, known as "Doi Moi" policy, began in 1986 and has led to strong economic growth in the last three decades. Real GDP growth averaged 6.6 percent between 1986 and 2018. Vietnam joined ASEAN in 1995 and relations with the US were normalised in the same year.