Vietnam PMI March 2025 – manufacturing purchasing managers index

Cimigo
Apr 01, 2025

Output rises for the first time in three months

  • Renewed increases in output and new orders.
  • Employment and purchasing scaled back.
  • Fall in output prices as input cost inflation slows.

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 March 2025

The Vietnamese manufacturing sector returned to growth in March amid renewed increases in both output and total new orders. That said, international demand weakened, and firms were cautious around hiring and purchasing as business confidence softened. Meanwhile, the rate of input cost inflation eased and manufacturers lowered their selling prices for the third month running.

The S&P Global Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI®) posted above the 50.0 no-change mark for the first time in four months during March, thereby signalling an improvement in business conditions at the end of the first quarter of 2025. At 50.5, the PMI was up from 49.2 in February and pointed to a slight strengthening in the health of the sector.

Manufacturing production increased for the first time in three months during March, and to the largest degree since August last year. According to respondents, the rise in output in part reflected improvements in the availability of goods, but also a renewed increase in new orders, which likewise expanded following a two-month sequence of decline.

Growth of new orders was recorded amid signs of improving customer demand, but was only slight amid ongoing weakness in international demand. In fact, new export orders decreased markedly and at the fastest pace since July 2023. New business from abroad has now fallen in five successive months. Some panellists reported a drop in orders from Mainland China. 

While output and total new orders returned to growth, firms were slightly less confident in the year- head outlook for production than was the case in February. Sentiment remained positive amid higher new orders and hopes for stable demand, but optimism was below the series average. 

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Vietnam PMI Trend March 2025

Manufacturers exhibited caution with regards to employment and purchasing in March. Staffing levels decreased for the sixth consecutive month, linked to a recent period of subdued demand and staff resignations. That said, the drop in workforce numbers was the weakest in 2025 so far.

Purchasing activity, meanwhile, decreased for the first time in four months, with firms suggesting that the recent period of input buying meant that holdings of goods were sufficient to support output requirements. In turn, stocks of purchases decreased, albeit to the least marked extent since August last year. Stocks of finished goods were also down amid some reports that firms were reluctant to hold excess inventories.

Where firms did purchase inputs, they were faced with a further lengthening of suppliers’ delivery times, often linked to delays receiving goods from abroad. That said, the latest deterioration in vendor performance was much less pronounced than that seen in February and the weakest in seven months. Some panellists reported better stock availability at suppliers and faster transportation. 

While higher costs for some imported items led input prices to increase again in March, muted demand for inputs led some suppliers to reduce their prices. Overall, input costs increased only slightly and at the slowest pace in the current 20-month sequence of inflation. Meanwhile, efforts to maintain competitiveness led manufacturers in Vietnam to lower their selling prices for the third consecutive month. The fall was only slight, however.

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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