Việt Nam witnessed the addition of 110,761 new securities accounts in April, bringing the total number of domestic securities accounts to over 7.7 million, according to data provided by the Việt Nam Securities Depository (VSD).

Comparatively, the number of newly opened accounts was nearly 53,000 lower than in March, marking it as the lowest number of securities accounts added in the first four months of 2024.

Since the beginning of this year, the number of securities accounts held by domestic investors has increased by more than half a million accounts. Việt Nam now boasts approximately 7.7 million individual securities accounts, equivalent to almost 7.7 per cent of the country's population.

April's rise was predominantly driven by individual investors, contributing to 110,622 new accounts. Conversely, institutional investors only witnessed a modest increase of 139 accounts.

Under the Securities Market Development Strategy until 2030, Việt Nam aims to achieve 9 million securities trading accounts on the stock market by 2025 and 11 million accounts by 2030. The government emphasises the development of institutional investors, professional investors, and the attraction of foreign investors.

The sluggish growth of securities accounts occurred amid the backdrop of significant market fluctuations and a downward trend. The VN-Index experienced an upward trajectory throughout the first quarter of 2024, but subsequently decelerated and underwent sharp adjustments in the initial three weeks of April 2024. This concluded a streak of five consecutive months of increases.— VNS