The economic expansion was second only to 2022’s 8.12% over the 2011-2025 period, the General Statistics Office (GSO), under the Ministry of Finance, reported on Monday.

The figure for Q4 was 8.46% year-on-year.

Nguyen Thi Huong, head of the GSO, said Q4 growth was the strongest of the 2021-2025 period, with the economy posting higher growth each successive quarter throughout the year.

Vietnam’s growth above 8% stood out as a bright spot amid continued global volatility, including trade tensions and U.S. reciprocal tariff policies, and world's economic slowdown, Huong told a press meeting, adding that it was the highest rate in ASEAN and among the fastest worldwide.

"Domestically, 2025 was a year of reorganizing administrative units at all levels and building a two-tiered local government system. It was also a year the economy faced many difficulties and challenges: heavy rains and typhoons causing severe flooding, flash floods, and landslides in various localities affected business activities and people's lives," she added.

Average GDP growth in 2021-2025 reached about 6.3% a year, slightly higher than the 6.2% recorded in the previous five-year period.

In nominal terms, Vietnam’s GDP was estimated at $514 billion in 2025, up $38 billion from a year earlier. GDP per capita rose to $5,026 from $4,700 in 2024, placing Vietnam in the upper-middle-income group.

Services remained the biggest contributor to the economic expansion, accounting for 51.08%, with growth of 8.62% from a year earlier.

Industry and construction grew 8.95%, contributing 43.62%, while agriculture, forestry and fisheries made up about 5.3%.

Trade hit a record high, with total exports and imports exceeding $930 billion, up 18.2% from 2024. Exports rose 17% to $475 billion, with 36 product categories each generating more than $1 billion.

Average consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.31% in 2025.

Nearly 297,500 businesses were newly registered or resumed operations in 2025, up 27.4% from the previous year, averaging almost 24,800 per month. By contrast, about 18,900 firms exited the market each month.

Business sentiment improved in Q4, with the proportion of firms reporting better conditions compared to the previous quarter rising 1.1%, while the groups citing "stable" or "more difficult conditions" declined 0.2% and 0.9%, respectively.

For 2026, Vietnam has set a target of double-digit growth while maintaining macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation. and safeguarding key economic balances.

Huong said this would be challenging and would require stronger measures to speed up public investment disbursement, particularly for major national projects, and to resolve long-delayed developments.

She also called for deeper economic restructuring alongside efforts to boost exports and expand the domestic market.

To support businesses, Huong said authorities should adopt competitive and preferential policies to improve the business environment and attract large, high-tech projects.

"Vietnam needs a more selective approach to foreign investment in areas with strong growth potential, such as semiconductors, innovation, and green hydrogen," she added.

The National Assembly, Vietnam's legislature, on November 12 approved a resolution setting an economic expansion target of at least 10% for 2026, per capita GDP at $5,400-5,500, and inflation controlled at around 4.5%.

The government had aimed to enlarge the national economy by 8.3-8.5% for 2025. GDP grew 7.85% in the first nine months. The figure was the second-highest levels in 11 years, except for 2023 which saw a strong surge post the pandemic.

Standard Chartered last October raised its Vietnam GDP growth forecast to 7.5% for 2025 from the previous 6.1%, and to 7.2% for 2026 from 6.2%, following HSBC's revising up its prediction to 7.9% (from 6.6%) and 6.7% (from 5.8%), respectively.

Manufacturers in Vietnam are increasingly optimistic that output will rise in 2026, linked to improving customer demand, the launch of new products, and increased production capacity, according to S&P Global.

Close to half of respondents predicted a rise in output in the new year, the company said in a release on January 2.

In December, confidence strengthened for the third month running and was the highest since March 2024.

The S&P Global Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index ended the year at 53.0, down slightly from 53.8 in November but still comfortably above the 50.0 no change mark and signalling a solid monthly improvement in the overall health of the sector, S&P Global stated.