Two-month import surplus rises to nearly US$1 billion

The national economy still achieved a trade surplus of US$1.4 billion USD in January, but it slipped into a trade deficit of US$2.34 billion in February, resulting in a two-month trade deficit of US$937 million, according to the General Statistics Office.

It’s noteworthy that the domestic economic sector ran an import surplus of US$3.96 billion, while the foreign business sector yielded an export surplus of US$3.02 billion, including crude oil export.

In detail, Vietnam’s two-month export turnover is estimated at US$53.79 billion, presenting a year-on-year rise of 10.2%. There are nine items with export turnover of over US$1 billion each, accounting for 71.6% of the total export value.

Businesses also spent US$54.73 billion on importing goods over two months, up 15.9% year on year. There are 13 items with the import value of more than US$1 billion each, making up 71.6% of the total.

The United States is Vietnam’s largest export market with an estimated turnover of US$18.3 billion. Meanwhile, China is Vietnam’s largest import market with an estimated turnover of US$20.8 billion.

Elsewhere, in the two-month period, Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus of US$5.5 billion from the European Union market, representing a year-on-year rise of 56.6%. It also generated a trade surplus of US$566 million from the Japanese market, a reverse trend compared to the US$237 million import surplus recorded in the same period last year.