Vietnam FDI sector posts $24 bln trade surplus in H1

Foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of $23.98 billion in the first half of 2024, with crude oil activities factored into account, the General Statistics Office reported.

The FDI sector recorded export revenues of $136.69 billion, up 12.3% year-on-year; while import expenditures rose 14.1% to $112.71 billion.

In January-June, the country posted export revenues of $190.08 billion, up 14.5% year-on-year; and import expenditures rose 17% to $178.45 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $11.63 billion. The surplus was lower than the $13.4 billion in H1/2023.

Meanwhile, domestic sector recorded a trade deficit of $12.35 billion.

Vietnam’s key export sectors in the first six months were electronics, computers and components with $32.91 billion, up 28.6% year-on-year; phones and components with $27.2 billion, up 11.3%; machinery and equipment with $22.93 billion, up 16.2%; apparel-textiles with $16.28 billion, up 3.1%; and footwear with $10.84 billion, up 10%.

The manufacturing-processing industry accounted for $166.79 billion of the country's export total, or 87.7%; followed by farm produce and forestry goods at $16.64 billion (8.8%); fisheries at $4.36 billion (2.3%); and fuel and natural resources at $2.29 billion (1.2%).

The highest import expenditure was in electronics, computers and components with $48.84 billion, up 26.7% year-on-year; followed by machinery and equipment with $22.31 billion, up 14.6%; fabric with $7.12 billion, up 10.8%; steel-iron with $5.05 billion, up 24%; and plastics with $5.36 billion, up 14.7%.

Materials for production accounted for $167.73 billion, or 94% of total imports. The remaining 6%, or $10.72 billion, was spent on consumer goods.

China and the U.S. were Vietnam's biggest trade partners, with total values of $94.8 billion and $61.4 billion in H1/2024, respectively. Other major partners were the ASEAN bloc with $40.8 billion, South Korea with $38.4 billion, the EU with $32 billion and Japan with $21.7 billion.

Vietnam spent $67 billion on importing goods and earned $27.8 billion from exporting goods to China, up 34.7% and 5.3% year-on-year, respectively. China was Vietnam’s biggest import market.

Exports and imports to the US rose 22.1% and 2.8% year-on-year respectively to $54.3 billion and $7.1 billion. The U.S. was Vietnam’s largest export destination.