Vietnam posts $24.77 bln trade surplus in 2024, FDI sector with $50.3 bln

Vietnam posted a trade surplus $24.77 billion in 2024, while the figure for the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector was $50.29 billion, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The whole-year trade surplus went up from $24.31 billion in January-November, while that of the FDI sector improved from $46.48 billion in the same period.

In 2024, Vietnam earned an export revenue of $405.53 billion, up 14.3% year-on-year, while the import expenditure rose 16.7% to $380.76 billion.

The domestic sector made a trade deficit of $25.52 billion last year.

Regarding export, Vietnam’s biggest cash earners were electronics, computers and components with $72.58 billion, up 26.6% year-on-year; phones and components with $53.89 billion, up 2.9%; machinery and equipment with $52.19 billion, up 21%; apparel-textiles with $37.04 billion, up 11.2%; and footwear with $22.87 billion, up 13%.

These were the only five sectors with export revenues exceeding $20 billion each.

The manufacturing-processing sector accounted for $356.74 billion of the country's total export, or 88%; followed by farm produce and forestry goods at $34.51 billion (8.5%); fisheries at $10.04 billion (2.5%); and fuel and natural resources at $4.24 billion (1%).

Regarding imports, sectors with highest import expenditures were electronics, computers and components with $107.05 billion, up 21.7% year-on-year; followed by machinery and equipment with $48.89 billion, up 17.6%; fabric with $14.91 billion, up 14.5%; steel-iron with $12.58 billion, up 20.6%; and plastics with $11.78 billion, up 20.7%; and phones and components with $10.4 billion, up 18.9%.

Those were the only six sectors with import expenditure exceeding $10 billion each.

Materials for production accounted for $356.43 billion, or 93.6% of total imports. The remaining 6.4%, or $24.33 billion, was spent on consumer goods.

China, U.S. remain biggest trade partners

China and the U.S. were Vietnam's biggest trade partners in 2024, with total values of $204.9 billion and $134.6 billion in the period, respectively. Other major partners were the ASEAN bloc with $83.9 billion, South Korea with $81.7 billion, the EU with $68.8 billion, and Japan with $46 billion.

Vietnam spent $144.3 billion on importing goods from China and earned $60.6 billion from exporting goods to that country, up 30.4% but down 1.1% 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 23.3% and 8.8% year-on-year respectively to $119.6 billion and $15 billion. The U.S. was Vietnam’s largest export destination.