Vietnam’s FDI sector posts $16.64 bln trade surplus in Jan-Apr

Foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of $16.64 billion in the first four months of 2024, with crude oil activities factored into account, according to the General Statistics Office.

In January-April, Vietnam posted an export revenue of $126.64 billion, up 15% year-on-year, and an import expenditure of $115.24 billion, up 15.4%, resulting in a trade surplus of $8.4 billion. The trade surplus was larger than the $7.66 billion recorded in the same period of 2023.

The domestic sector had a trade deficit of $8.24 billion in the same period.

Vietnam’s key export sectors in the first four months of this year were electronics, computers, and components with $21.63 billion, up 34.9% year-on-year; phones and components with $18.42 billion, up 6.6%; machinery and equipment with $14.54 billion, up 10%; and apparel-textile with $10.37 billion, up 6.3%.

Products from the manufacturing-processing industry accounted for $108.27 billion of the country's export total, or 87.5%, followed by farm produce and forestry goods at $10.96 billion (8.9%), fisheries at $2.68 billion (2.2%), and fuel and natural resources at $1.73 billion (1.4%).

Regarding imports, the highest expenditures were on electronics, computers, and components with $31.34 billion, up 23.1% year-on-year; machinery and equipment with $14.05 billion, up 12.8%; fabric with $4.36 billion, up 5.4%; and steel-iron with $3.95 billion, up 24.9%.

Materials for production accounted for $108.33 billion, or 94% of total imports. The remaining 6%, or $6.91 billion, was spent on consumer goods.

In January-April, China and the U.S. were Vietnam's biggest trade partners, with total values of $59.6 billion and $38.6 billion, respectively. Other major trade partners were ASEAN with $27.6 billion, South Korea with $25.5 billion, the EU with $21.4 billion, and Japan with $15.2 billion.

Vietnam spent $41.6 billion on importing goods and earned $18 billion from exporting goods to China, up 28.4% and 14.4% year-on-year, respectively.

Regarding the U.S., Vietnam reaped $34.1 billion from exports and recorded import spending of $4.5 billion, up 19.1% and 4.6% year-on-year, respectively.