Vietnam’s textile, apparel and footwear factories expanded output in August, but growth in the country’s traditional export engines continued to lag a broader manufacturing boom fuelled by electronics and other capital-intensive industries, government data released this month showed.
The National Statistics Office said Vietnam’s Index of Industrial Production rose 14.4% year-on-year in August and 1.5% from July, capping the strongest eight-month start to a year in recent memory. Industrial output climbed 11.9% in the January-August period, the fastest such pace in years, with manufacturing and processing expanding 12.5%, up from 10% a year earlier, and contributing 9.6 percentage points to overall growth. Read Here
Within manufacturing, textiles rose 9.97% year-on-year in August and 9.6% for the eight-month period. Apparel output increased 8.26% in August and 6.5% year-to-date, while footwear and leather goods, the softest performer among the three, grew 4.78% in August and 3.6% since January. All three trailed manufacturing’s 14.6% overall August gain by margins of roughly five to ten percentage points, as newer segments such as electronic components posted steeper increases.
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Garment and textile exports, which generated $46 billion in 2025 and are targeted to reach $48 billion this year, totalled about $26.9 billion through August, up 1.6% year-on-year, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said. Officials and executives said the modest export growth reflects softer demand in key markets and a structural shift as global brands tighten sustainability and traceability requirements.
Alen Wei, chief financial officer for H&M Production China and Southeast Asia, said fashion brands are increasingly selecting suppliers on sustainability, innovation and resilience rather than price and capacity alone. Vietnamese manufacturers are responding: Corporation 28 has upgraded toward greener operations, while Faslink Vietnam said its recycled-material processes cut carbon emissions by about 59% and water use by 47% versus conventional methods.
Trade officials flagged risk from U.S. tariff policy but said major American buyers have not signalled plans to shift sourcing away from Vietnam. Do Ngoc Hung, head of the Vietnam Trade Office in the U.S., called that a positive signal, though he said Vietnam still needs to raise domestic material use and technology to compete beyond price.
Buyers at the Vietnam International Sourcing 2026 event in Ho Chi Minh City said the country has cemented its status as a major textile hub, but that its next stage requires a shift toward green, high-tech and circular production to defend its ranking as the world’s third-largest apparel exporter, behind China and Bangladesh.