Da Nang’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) has been estimated to be down 9.77% this year to about VND100 trillion compared to 2019 due to COVID-19, a press conference held on December 29 to announce the central city’s socio-economic figures for 2020 heard.

Tran Van Vu, head of the city’s statistics office, said the two waves of the pandemic in March and July negatively impacted all socio-economic aspects in Da Nang. Production and business activities were halted during most of the third quarter, inflicting severe difficulties on the lives of local people.

The service sector, which accounts for about 65% of the city’s economy, bore the brunt of the pandemic, with sub-sectors like lodging and food services as well as postal and delivery services recording annual declines of 37.33% and 18.32%, respectively.

Meanwhile, the value added of the industrial and construction sector dived 12.23% or VND3 trillion lower than in 2019. The agro-forestry-fishery sector, by contrast, managed to maintain growth at approximately 2.4% year-on-year.

Vu predicted that as the economy relies largely on services and has its industrial sector heavily depending on imported materials, it is likely to be further plagued by the pandemic next year.

He suggested a number of measures to ease the difficulties, like supporting companies in export promotions, recovering tourism, implementing safe credit growth solutions, and attracting investment serving industrial restructuring.