In the first four months of 2026, Vietnam's economic picture recorded many positive signs, especially in the business sector and investment capital flows.
According to data from the Statistics Office (Ministry of Finance), in general, in the first four months of 2026, the whole country had 77.8 thousand newly registered enterprises with a total registered capital of nearly 785.4 trillion VND and a total number of registered workers of 356.9 thousand workers, an increase of 50.7% in the number of enterprises, an increase of 60.1% in registered capital and an increase of 0.3% in the number of workers compared to the same period last year.
In addition, the whole country has 41,600 businesses returning to operation (up 8.6% compared to the same period in 2025), raising the total number of newly established and returning businesses in the four months of 2026 to more than 119,400 businesses, up 32.8% compared to the same period in 2025. On average, 29.9 thousand newly established and returning businesses per month.
In general, in the first four months of 2026, the number of businesses temporarily suspending business for a definite term is 72.2 thousand businesses, an increase of 5.1% compared to the same period last year; nearly 21.5 thousand businesses stopped operating waiting for dissolution procedures, an increase of 6.6%; nearly 15.2 thousand businesses completed dissolution procedures, an increase of 98.7%. On average, there are 27.2 thousand businesses withdrawing from the market per month.
In parallel with that, foreign investment capital continues to be a bright spot. Foreign direct investment capital implemented in Vietnam in the first four months of 2026 is estimated at 7.40 billion USD, an increase of 9.8% compared to the same period last year. This is the highest foreign direct investment capital implemented in the first four months of the year in the past 5 years. In which, the processing and manufacturing industry reached 6.12 billion USD, accounting for 82.7% of total foreign direct investment capital implemented; real estate business activities reached 540.5 million USD, accounting for 7.3%; production and distribution of electricity, gas, hot water, steam and air conditioning reached 270.6 million USD, accounting for 3.7%.
In the opposite direction, Vietnam's investment abroad also increased sharply. Vietnam's investment abroad in the first four months of 2026 had 74 projects newly granted investment certificates with a total capital of the Vietnamese side of 691.1 million USD, 2.6 times higher than the same period last year; there were 4 turns of projects adjusting capital with adjusted capital increasing by 22.8 million USD, down 43.2%. Overall, total investment capital of Vietnam abroad (newly granted and adjusted capital) reached 713.9 million USD, 2.3 times higher than the same period last year.
International trade activities recorded positive growth. In general, in the first four months of 2026, the export turnover of goods is estimated at 168.53 billion USD, an increase of 19.7% compared to the same period last year. In which, the domestic economic sector reached 33.65 billion USD, an increase of 0.4%, accounting for 20.0% of total export turnover; the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) reached 134.88 billion USD, an increase of 25.8%, accounting for 80.0%. In the first four months of 2026, there were 24 items with export turnover of over 1 billion USD, accounting for 89.1% of total export turnover (there were 7 items exported over 5 billion USD, accounting for 69.1%).
In general, in the first four months of 2026, the import turnover of goods is estimated at 175.64 billion USD, an increase of 28.7% compared to the same period last year, of which the domestic economic sector reached 49.27 billion USD, an increase of 20.4%; the foreign-invested sector reached 126.37 billion USD, an increase of 32.3%.
In general, in the first four months of 2026, the trade balance of goods is estimated to have a trade deficit of 7.11 billion USD (compared to a trade surplus of 4.3 billion USD in the same period last year). In which, the domestic economic sector had a trade deficit of 15.61 billion USD; the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) had a trade surplus of 8.5 billion USD.
