HANOI, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam posted a positive gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 2.91 percent in 2020 amid impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's General Statistics Office announced Sunday.
This is the lowest growth reported over the past decade, but still a "great achievement" of the country, said the office.
In the fourth quarter, the country's economy expanded 4.48 percent year on year. Vietnam's effective control of COVID-19 and its free trade agreement with the European Union, which came into force in August, among other factors, contributed to the positive result, according to the data office.
The sector of agriculture, forestry and fishery grew by 2.68 percent against the same period last year, while industry and construction grew 3.98 percent and services up 2.34 percent.
The three sectors respectively contributed 13.5 percent, 53 percent and 33.5 percent to the overall growth, said the office.
Vietnam's GDP grew 7.02 percent in 2019, exceeding the annualized target of 6.6 to 6.8 percent.
In a report released earlier this month, the World Bank projected that the country's economy would grow by about 6.8 percent in 2021 and stabilize at around 6.5 percent thereafter.
According to a recently-adopted plan by the country's top legislature, Vietnam will strive to achieve a GDP growth of around 6 percent in 2021 while effectively combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, despite the severe impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on global trade, Vietnam has so far gained trade turnovers of 543.9 billion U.S. dollars, up 5.1 percent from the previous year, and posted a trade surplus of 19.1 billion U.S. dollars, the highest since 2016, according to the office. Enditem
