Vietnam posts $23.3 bln trade surplus in Jan-Oct, FDI sector $42.9 bln

By Tri Duc

Wed, November 6, 2024 | 3:25 pm GMT+7

Vietnam posted a trade surplus $23.31 billion in the first 10 months of this year, with the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector making a trade surplus of $42.92 billion.

The country’s 10-month trade surplus went up from $20.79 billion in January-September, while the FDI sector’s figure rose from $38.17 billion, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

In January-October, Vietnam’s export revenue grew 14.9% year-on-year to $335.59 billion, while import expenditure went up 16.8% to $213.28 billion.

The domestic sector made a trade deficit of $19.61 billion in the period.

Trucks waiting to export goods to China at Kim Thanh II border gate, Lao Cai province, northern Vietnam. Photo courtesy of Dan Tri (Intellect) newspaper.

Regarding export, Vietnam’s biggest cash earners were electronics, computers and components with $58.67 billion, up 26.1% year-on-year; phones and components with $46.47 billion, up 4.9%; machinery and equipment with $43.05 billion, up 21.5%; apparel-textiles with $30.57 billion, up 8.9%; and footwear with $18.57 billion, up 12.9%.

The manufacturing-processing sector accounted for $295.23 billion of the country's total export, or 88%; followed by farm produce and forestry goods at $28.54 billion (8.5%); fisheries at $8.25 billion (2.4%); and fuel and natural resources at $3.57 billion (1.1%).

Sub-sectors with highest import expenditure were electronics, computers and components with $88.25 billion, up 23.7% year-on-year; followed by machinery and equipment with $39.7 billion, up 17%; fabric with $12.27 billion, up 14.7%; steel-iron with $10.48 billion, up 23.2%; and plastics with $9.5 billion, up 17.9%.

Materials for production accounted for $292.57 billion, or 93.7% of total imports. The remaining 6.3%, or $19.71 billion, was spent on consumer goods.

China and the U.S. were Vietnam's biggest trade partners, with total values of $168.5 billion and $110.7 billion in the period, respectively. Other major partners were the ASEAN bloc with $68.5 billion, South Korea with $66.3 billion, the EU with $56.1 billion, and Japan with $38 billion.

Vietnam spent $117.7 billion on importing goods and earned $508 billion from exporting goods to China, up 31.6% and 2.1% year-on-year, respectively. China was Vietnam’s biggest import market and second-biggest export market.

Exports to and imports from the U.S. rose 24.2% and 8.2% year-on-year respectively to $98.4 billion and $12.3 billion. The U.S. was Vietnam’s largest export destination.

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