ADB increases growth forecast for Vietnam to 7.4 per cent in 2025

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has revised its 2025 economic growth forecast for Vietnam to 7.4 per cent, up from 6.7 per cent, according to a report from the Government News.

The Government News quoted the latest Asian Development Outlook as reporting that  ADB upgrades growth forecast for developing economies in Asia and the Pacific by 0.3 percentage points to 5.1 per cent.

The regional upgrade comes as exports outperform expectations and trade uncertainty eases following the conclusion of several trade agreements with the U.S..

The ADB report highlights that robust exports—especially of semiconductors and other technology products—together with cooling inflation and stable financial conditions, have strengthened the region's overall growth prospects.

Developing Asia is now expected to expand 5.1 per cent in 2025, higher than the 4.8 per cent projected in September, while the 2026 outlook has been nudged up to 4.6 per cent.

"Asia and the Pacific's solid economic fundamentals are underpinning robust export performance and steady growth, despite a global trade environment clouded by historic levels of uncertainty over the past year," said ADB Chief Economist Albert Park, as quoted by the Government News.

He noted that although new trade agreements have helped ease some uncertainty, "external and other challenges could still weigh on the outlook." The chief economist called on governments across the region to continue fostering open trade and investment to sustain growth momentum.

ADB cautioned that risks to the region include renewed trade tensions, financial market volatility, geopolitical strains, and the possibility of a deeper-than-expected downturn in China's property sector.

HSBC recently upgraded 2025 and 2026 growth forecast for Vietnam to 7.9 per cent and 6.7 per cent, respectively, the highest in ASEAN. UOB raised Vietnam's growth forecast to 7.7 per cent in 2025, while Standard Chartered predicted that the Vietnamese GDP growth would accelerate to 7.5 per cent in 2025 and 7.2 per cent in 2026.