Vietnam PMI April 2025 – manufacturing purchasing managers index

Cimigo
May 05, 2025

New orders fall sharply amid tariff announcements

  • Marked reductions in output, new orders and employment.
  • Business sentiment lowest since August 2021.
  • Input cost inflation eases and output prices fall.

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.

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Vietnam PMI findings

Vietnam PMI April 2025

The announcement of tariffs by the US caused a renewed contraction in the Vietnamese manufacturing sector during April. Output, new orders, employment and purchasing were all down sharply, while business confidence dropped to a 44-month low amid concerns about the further impact of tariffs on future production.

A lack of demand meant that firms continued to lower their selling prices, while input costs rose only slightly. The S&P Global Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI®) dropped back below the 50.0 nochange mark in April, after having signalled growth for the first time in four months during March. At 45.6, the latest reading was down from 50.5 and signalled a marked monthly deterioration in the health of the sector.

In fact, business conditions worsened to the largest extent since May 2023. Manufacturing new orders decreased markedly in April, reversing the expansion seen in March. Moreover, the rate of contraction was sharp and the fastest in almost two years. Respondents indicated that the drop in new orders reflected the introduction of tariffs by the US and fluctuations in international market conditions.

New export orders fell even more quickly than total new business amid the declaration of tariffs. The sixth successive decrease in new business from abroad was the most marked since June 2023.

Tariffs, and the reduction in new orders led to a renewed fall in production following a rise in March. The decline in output was marked and the fastest since January 2023. Manufacturers were also concerned about the impact of tariffs on production in the months ahead. Business confidence dropped sharply and was the lowest since August 2021. In fact, the level of optimism was one of the weakest in the series history.

Backlogs of work fell sharply amid lower new orders, with the rate of depletion broadly in line with that seen in the previous month. 

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Vietnam PMI Trend April 2025

Lower workloads led manufacturers to scale back employment, the seventh month running in which this has been the case. Furthermore, the pace of job cuts was the steepest for three-and-a-half years. Firms also reduced their purchasing activity sharply in response to lower new orders and declining output requirements. Input buying was down for the second consecutive month, and to the largest degree since May 2023.

In turn, stocks of purchases were also down, and to the largest extent since last September. Reduced demand for inputs meant that suppliers’ delivery times lengthened only marginally in April, and to the smallest degree in eight months. That said, there were some reports of delivery delays amid issues with the speed and availability of transportation.

A weakening demand environment also impacted prices in April. While input costs continued to increase amid rises in the price of some raw materials, the pace of inflation was only slight and the weakest since the current sequence of increasing operating expenses began in August 2023. Some firms mentioned lower costs for oil and transportation. Selling prices decreased for the fourth consecutive month. Although modest, the pace of reduction was the sharpest in 21 months.

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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