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Vietnam PMI September 2025 – manufacturing purchasing managers index
Cimigo Vietnam market research has collected the Vietnam PMI – manufacturing purchasing managers index since 2013. S&P Global compiles the Vietnam PMI S&P Global from responses to monthly questionnaires sent to purchasing managers in a panel of around 400 manufacturers.
Business conditions in the Vietnamese manufacturing sector continued to improve slightly in September amid a renewed expansion of new orders. Output and purchasing activity also increased, but firms
continued to lower their staffing levels.
Meanwhile, inflationary pressures strengthened. The S&P Global Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI®) was unchanged at 50.4 in September, signalling a further slight strengthening in the health of the sector. Operating conditions have now improved in three consecutive months.
Helping to support overall business conditions in September was a renewed increase in new orders following a slight fall in August. That said, the rate of expansion was only marginal. Meanwhile, new export orders continued to fall, but the pace of contraction eased to the weakest in the current 11-month sequence of decline. International demand reportedly remained muted, but stability in US tariff policies reportedly helped some firms to secure new business from abroad.
With overall new orders rising on the back of improving customer demand, manufacturers continued to increase their production volumes at the end of the third quarter, thereby extending the current sequence of growth to five months. The rate of expansion was solid, but eased to the weakest since June.
The latest rise in output was partly reflective of reductions in backlogs of work, which decreased markedly in September and to the largest degree in five months. Meanwhile, manufacturers continued to scale back workforce numbers, extending the current sequence of monthly falls to one year. Panellists linked the modest reduction in staffing levels to relatively muted workloads and the non-replacement of retiring workers.
On a more positive note, firms increased their purchasing activity for the third month running amid higher output requirements. The use of purchased items to support production meant that stocks of inputs continued to fall, however. Stocks of finished goods were also down, and to the largest extent since July 2024.
Suppliers’ delivery times lengthened for the thirteenth month running in September, albeit only modestly and to the smallest degree in four months. Panellists reported goods shortages and issues with transportation.
Inflationary pressures strengthened at the end of the third quarter of the year, with both input costs and output prices rising at sharper rates. The latest increase in input costs was the fastest since July 2024 and linked by respondents to higher market prices and unfavourable exchange rate movements. In turn, selling prices also rose at the fastest pace in 14 months.
A more stable economic environment is expected to help lead to higher new orders and subsequently an increase in output over the coming year. Public sector investment is also predicted to support growth. While firms remained optimistic about the year-ahead outlook, the level of sentiment dropped from August and was weaker than the series average.
Approach
The S&P Global Vietnam Manufacturing PMI® is compiled by S&P Global from responses to monthly questionnaires sent to purchasing managers in a panel of around 400 manufacturers. The panel is stratified by detailed sector and company workforce size, based on contributions to GDP.
Survey responses are collected by Cimigo Vietnam in the second half of each month and indicate the direction of change compared to the previous month. A diffusion index is calculated for each survey variable. The index is the sum of the percentage of ‘higher’ responses and half the percentage of ‘unchanged’ responses.
The indices vary between 0 and 100, with a reading above 50 indicating an overall increase compared to the previous month, and below 50 an overall decrease. The indices are then seasonally adjusted.
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