Vietnam’s trade surplus widens to US$5.39 billion in 9 months

The foreign-invested sector enjoyed a trade surplus of US$23.65 billion, but growth fell to 15% year-on-year compared to 23% growth in the first quarter due to difficulties finding export markets, the report noted.

The domestic sector reported a trade deficit of US$18.26 billion in the period, but its exports experienced an encouraging increase of 17.5% year-on-year to US$51.07 billion, higher than 15% jump posted in the first quarter.

The domestic sector’s positive export performance had contributed to a yearly rise of 15.4% in the country’s nine-month export turnover of over US$178.9 billion, nearly double the growth target set for the whole year by the National Assembly, GSO Director Nguyen Bich Lam said.

According to the report, 26 export commodities brought in more than US$1 billion in export value from January to September, making up 90.3% of the country’s total export revenue.

Five of them grossed a revenue of more than US$10 billion, accounting for 58.2% of the total export value, including phones and accessories with US$36.1 billion, up 15%; textiles and garments (US$22.6 billion, up 17.1%); electronic products, computers and components (US$21.6 billion, up 17%); machinery, equipment and parts (US$12.1 billion, up 29%); and footwear (US$11.8 billion, up 11%). 

However, crude oil exports witnessed sharp declines in both value and volume compared to the same period of last year, standing at US$1.7 billion, down 25% in value despite an average increase of 38% in global crude oil prices.

In the January - September period, the US remained Vietnam’s biggest export market, spending US$34.9 billion on Vietnamese goods, up 13% year-on-year, followed by the EU (US$31.1 billion, up 10%) and China (US$28.1 billion, up 27%). 

The country’s import value of commodities in the period saw a modest surge of 12% to US$173.52 billion. Of the sum, the foreign-invested sector contributed US$104.2 billion, up 12%, while the domestic sector made up US$69.34 billion, up 11.7%.

Key import items included electronics, computers and components, equipment and machinery, telephones and components, fabric, iron, steel, plastics, oil and gas, metal, footwear, chemicals, and garment and textile materials.

China remained Vietnam’s largest import market during the period with turnover of US$47.1 billion, a 12.5% climb year-on-year. The Republic of Korea came next by exporting US$35 billion worth of goods to Vietnam, a rise of 1.4% year-on-year, while ASEAN countries ranked third with US$23.2 billion, up 13%.