From 2006 to 2021, Vietnam GDP per capita grew by nearly 371%. In fact, a growth rate of 371% is close to Vietnam GDP per capita increasing five-fold. 

“Even when we analyze Vietnam’s GDP per capita in constant 2015 US dollars (as opposed to current US dollars), Vietnam’s growth in GDP per capita is stunning,” forbes.com wrote. In constant 2015 US dollars, the Vietnam GDP per capita in 2006 was 1,650.63 USD, before rising to 3,373.08 USD in 2021. That equates to a 15-year growth rate of 104.4% in Vietnam’s GDP per capita. 

Using data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), the author analyzed how much the economy of Vietnam has changed over the last 15 years. Back in 2006, Vietnam’s biggest export product was crude petroleum, representing 16.9% of its exports that year and equal to 7.72 billion USD. Fast-forward to 2020, and crude petroleum now only accounts for 0.54% of Vietnam’s exports, equal to 1.64 billion USD. Instead, broadcasting equipment has become Vietnam’s top export product, accounting for 14% of exports, with a value of 42 billion USD. It is followed by telephones and integrated circuits. 

According to the OEC, over the last 20 years, Vietnam’s economy has increased in complexity, rising on the Economic Complexity Indicators (ECI) ranking from 83rd to 61st in the world.