Vietnam reports business growth and 14 million stock accounts

Vietnam's business landscape saw over 223,900 new enterprises established or returning to operation during the first nine months of 2026. While the total number of businesses increased by 3.2% compared to the same period in 2025, the total registered capital rose significantly by 32.7%, reaching 1,884 trillion VND. The average registered capital per new enterprise for the nine-month period reached 12.6 trillion VND, a 28.5% increase year-on-year.

In the securities sector, domestic investor accounts reached a milestone of 14 million by the end of September 2026, representing approximately 14% of the population. This follows an increase of over 2.2 million accounts since the start of the year. Despite Vietnam's upgrade by FTSE Russell from a frontier to a secondary emerging market, the VN-Index faced downward pressure, closing the month below 1,770 points.

Foreign investors have continued a trend of net selling, with approximately 5,000 billion VND sold on the HoSE in September. This brings the total net selling value from foreign investors to 96,000 billion VND since the beginning of the year, marking nine consecutive months of outflows despite the commencement of passive capital inflows from emerging market funds.