The inflation rate in Ho Chi Minh City is currently the highest in the country, according to Tran Phuoc Tuong, Deputy Director of the HCMC Statistics Office. The data was shared during the city's People's Committee meeting on socio-economic developments held on September 9.

The consumer price index (CPI) in HCMC rose by just 0.04% in August. However, the overall inflation rate for the first eight months of 2025 reached 4.17%, significantly higher than the national average of 3.26%.

The sectors seeing the sharpest price increases include healthcare (up 15.4%), education (up 7.84%), and housing and construction materials (up 7.4%).

Tuong noted that while HCMC currently leads the country in inflation, if price hikes in these three sectors are successfully controlled, the city’s CPI could stabilize or even slightly decrease.

The report also pointed to sluggish export performance. In the first eight months of the year, HCMC's exports grew by only 6.4%, trailing the national average growth rate of 14.8%.

A particularly alarming trend is the high business exit rate. For every 10 new entrants into the market in HCMC, 7 businesses shut down, compared to 6 during the same period in 2024.

New business registrations have dropped 13.9%, while total registered capital plunged 35%. Business scale is also shrinking, with average registered capital per company now at 6.1 billion VND (about $239,000 USD), down from 8.1 billion VND ($317,000 USD) in 2024.

Despite these concerning figures, there are signs of recovery in capital flows. Mobilized capital in the city rose 7% year-over-year, and credit outstanding increased by 7.3%. An estimated 97% of mobilized funds are being actively loaned out, indicating strong liquidity and circulation in the economy.

Still, challenges remain. According to the city’s statistics agency, in order to meet the 2025 GRDP growth target of 8.5%, HCMC must achieve growth of over 10% in the fourth quarter alone - an extremely ambitious and difficult task.

Tran Chung