Vietnam FDI sector posts $19.27 bln trade surplus in first 5 months

Foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of $19.27 billion in the first five months of 2024, with crude oil activities factored into account.

From January-May, the country posted an export revenue of $156.77 billion, up 15.2% year-on-year, and an import expenditure of $148.76 billion, up 18.4%, resulting in a trade surplus of $8.01 billion.

The trade surplus was lower than the $10.15 billion recorded in the same period of 2023, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The domestic sector had a trade deficit of $11.26 billion in the five-month period.

Notably, Vietnam posted a trade deficit of $1 billion in May, according to GSO data.

Vietnam’s key export sectors in the first five months were electronics, computers and components with $27.38 billion, up 33.4% year-on-year; phones and components with $22.54 billion, up 11.6%; machinery and equipment with $18.44 billion, up 11.8%; and apparel-textiles with $13.12 billion, up 3.3%.

Products from the manufacturing-processing industry accounted for $137.39 billion of the country's export total, or 87.7%; followed by farm produce and forestry goods at $13.82 billion (8.8%); fisheries at $3.5 billion (2.2%), and fuel and natural resources at $2.06 billion (1.3%).

Regarding imports, the highest expenditures were on electronics, computers and components with $40.25 billion, up 27.3% year-on-year; machinery and equipment with $18.53 billion, up 15.4%; fabric with $6.04 billion, up 13.3%; and steel-iron with $5.05 billion, up 28.3%.

Materials for production accounted for $139.89 billion, or 94% of total imports. The remaining 6%, or $8.87 billion, was spent on consumer goods.

In January-May, China and the U.S. were Vietnam's biggest trade partners, with total values of $77.5 billion and $49.9 billion, respectively. Other major partners were ASEAN with $34.8 billion, South Korea with $31.9 billion, the EU with $27.1 billion, and Japan with $18.8 billion.

Vietnam spent $54.9 billion on importing goods and earned $22.6 billion from exporting goods to China, up 33.1% and 10.2% year-on-year, respectively. China was Vietnam’s biggest import market.

Regarding the U.S., Vietnam reaped $44 billion from exports and recorded import spending of $5.9 billion, up 21% and 3.7% year-on-year, respectively. The U.S. was Vietnam’s largest export destination.