Ho Chi Minh City's Index of Industrial Production (IIP) advanced 5.9 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2021, though new COVID-19 outbreaks are ravaging the country's southern economic hub, causing the index to shrink 5.3 percent month-on-month in June.

H1's IIP of the city's four key industries – mechanics, electronics and information technology, chemistry and rubber, and food processing – picked up 6.2 percent from the same period last year, according to the municipal Department of Industry and Trade. Electronics posted the relatively high growth of 15.6 percent, while chemistry, and food and beverage increased 2.6 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

Growth of more than 15 percent were also seen in multiple other industries, including wood processing and timber and bamboo production, electric device manufacturing, and printing.

In the first six months of the year, the city's sales of products of the manufacturing and processing rose by 7 percent year-on-year, supported by strong gains of metal production (45.6 percent), motor vehicles (25.4 percent), and coke production and refined petroleum products (16 percent).

The inventory, however, grew 16.2 percent year-on-year during the period, with significant increases recorded in leather and related products (258.5 percent), chemistry (76.3 percent), electric devices (64.5 percent) among others.