Vietnam PMI January 2026 – manufacturing purchasing managers index

Admin
Feb 03, 2026

Vietnam PMI Janaury 2026: Job creation at 19-month high amid sharper output growth

  • Faster increases in output, new orders and employment.
  • Business confidence at 22-month high.
  • Sharpest rise in output prices since April 2022.

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 January 2026

Output growth strengthened in the Vietnamese manufacturing sector at the start of 2026.

A faster expansion in production coincided with sustained new order growth and firms becoming increasingly optimistic regarding the year-ahead outlook for output. Rising production requirements led to further increases in employment and purchasing.

Inflationary pressures remained relatively elevated, however, with manufacturing selling prices increasing at the fastest pace since April 2022.

The S&P Global Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI®) posted 52.5 in January, down slightly from 53.0 in December but still comfortably above the 50.0 no-change mark and thus pointing to a solid monthly improvement in business conditions at the start of 2026. The health of the sector has now strengthened in seven successive months.

The softening of growth signalled by the headline PMI was recorded in spite of a sharp and accelerated increase in manufacturing production during January. The marked rise in output was largely attributed by respondents to higher new orders, which also increased at a faster pace than in December amid improving customer demand.

Total new business was supported by a renewed expansion of new export orders. The rise was the third in the past four months, albeit slight overall. Panellists reported having received new orders from other Asian economies such as India.

The marked increase in manufacturing production seen in January was supported by sustained job creation. Employment rose for the fourth successive month. Although the pace of job creation was modest, it quickened to the fastest since June 2024. Some firms indicated that workers had only been hired on a temporary basis, however. Firms also raised their purchasing activity in response to greater output requirements, extending the current sequence of growth to seven months.

Vietnam PMI January trend

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Stocks of inputs decreased for the first time since last September, however, as purchased items were used to support production growth.

Stocks of finished goods were also down, and at a solid pace that was the fastest in four months. Respondents noted that products were shipped promptly to customers. The delivery of goods to clients and ramping up of production meant that manufacturers were able to keep on top of workloads in January.

Backlogs of work decreased for the second month running, albeit marginally. Suppliers’ delivery times continued to lengthen, albeit to the least marked extent in eight months. Panellists linked delivery delays to higher demand for inputs and material scarcity. These factors also resulted in higher input costs, which rose sharply again at the start of 2026. The pace of inflation was only slightly softer than the three-and-a-half year high seen in
December.

In turn, firms continued to increase their selling prices rapidly. Moreover, the rate of charge inflation quickened to the fastest since April 2022. Optimism in the 12-month outlook for production continued to strengthen at the start of 2026, improving for the fourth consecutive month to the highest since March 2024. Exactly 55% of respondents predicted a rise in output over the coming year, with firms expecting continued new order growth amid improving market conditions.

Vietnam PMI 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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