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Vietnam Edged Out China As Asia’s Top-Performing Economy in 2020
February 10, 2021
While China surprised many with its rapid recovery to economic growth, it was outperformed by a regional peer. Not every Asian economy has reported official fourth-quarter economic data, but estimates from CNBC using International Monetary Fund data show that the Vietnamese economy grew by 2.9% last year, beating China’s 2.3% growth.
Some economists question the veracity of official Vietnamese economic data, but the general consensus is that the economy performed very well last year, due in no small part to the nation’s ability to halt the spread of Covid-19. As of late January, the nation had seen only about 1,500 confirmed cases and 35 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The nation managed to go through all of 2020 without a single quarter of economic contraction.
Economists expect that the nation’s economy, which relies heavily on manufacturing, is poised to continue its strong run. The World Bank projects the economy to grow by 6.7% in 2021.
