Socialist Republic of Vietnam

(07/09/2003 -- 18:55GMT+7)

Ha Noi, July 9 (VNA)- National and per-capita incomes, gaps between rural and urban areas, and purchasing powers in Viet Nam all saw major improvement in the first two years of the new millenium, according to the Statistics Office's 2002 survey.

The survey on Vietnamese households' living conditions showed that per-capita income rose by more than 21 percent in the last two years to 357,000 VND in 2002, representing an annual increase of more than 10 percent.

People of all walks of life across the country, with the exception of farmers in the Central Highlands, enjoyed a raise in incomes such as 16 percent in the services sector and 28.44 percent in agricultural, fisheries and forestry sector. Public employees' salaries hit a peak with an increase of 32.63 percent while the industrial and construction sector was in the bottom of the list with an increase of just over 6 percent.

The Central Highlands was singled out of the list with per-capita income plummeting 30 percent due to a sharp drop in the prices of coffee and other farm products.

The national poverty reduction programme has helped reduce the poverty rate to 9.96 percent last year from 11.35 percent in 1999. The gap between the urban and rural population has also been narrowed with the poverty rate in the countryside falling to 11.99 percent against the urban rate of 3.6 percent.

The purchasing power also rose 21 percent equal to the income growth, said the survey. Even the poorest population group also spent 11 percent more than in 1999.

Viet Nam's richest gear their spendings to non-food commodities and services, especiallly in accommodation, electricity and water supply, households utensils and furniture, healthcare and education. Brick-and-tile homes now account for 80 percent, gradually replacing a majority of thatched cottages in rural areas in the past.

Homes with television sets rose by 9 percent to 67 percent and motorcycle owners by 32.3 percent, the survey reported.