First-ever Business Performance Index unveiled

Cashew nut processing at a private enterprise in Xuan Hoa commune, Dong Nai City. Photo: Hai Quan

This year marks the first pilot release of the BPI. The BPI is designed not to replace the PCI but to complement it by expanding the analytical framework from assessing the quality of the business environment (institutional inputs) to measuring operational outcomes (market outputs). As a supplementary index, the BPI operates independently and is not incorporated into the overall PCI score.

The 2025 BPI comprises 23 indicators grouped into two dimensions. The first dimension, “Private sector development,” focuses on key business performance outcomes, including enterprise scale, operational sustainability, revenue growth, and profitability. These are traditional output indicators that can be more directly associated with the quality of provincial economic governance.

Meanwhile, the second dimension, “Innovation,” reflects factors such as technological capability, innovation investment, and supply chain linkages. The depth of the local innovation ecosystem, the technological base, and the industrial structure all significantly impact the indicators in this dimension.

The introduction of the BPI is intended to measure the development of the private economic sector in localities, serving as a basis for evidence-based assessments of the effectiveness of action programs implementing Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW on private sector development at the local level.

The pilot results of the 2025 BPI showed that Ho Chi Minh City ranked first with 5.67 points, followed by Hanoi with 5.41 points and Quang Ninh with 5.33 points. Dong Nai scored 3.91 points on the index.

The 2025 BPI scores showed clear disparities among localities. The national median score stood at 4.2 points. The lowest BPI score was 3.26 points, while the highest reached 5.67 points.

This year’s report was compiled based on a survey of more than 3,500 domestic private enterprises, 586 foreign direct investment enterprises, and over 1,000 household businesses across 34 provinces and cities. It is regarded as one of the largest and most in-depth surveys of the private sector conducted in recent years.