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

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.

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.