Vietnam’s trade surplus hits record high despite COVID-19

Vietnam posted a record trade surplus of 20.1 billion USD in the first 11 months. (Photo: Internet)

The GSO said the country’s total trade value in the first 11 months was estimated at 489.1 billion USD, a year-on-year rise of 3.5 percent. Export value reached 254.6 billion USD, up 5.3 percent and import value stood at 234.5 billion USD, up 1.5 percent.

In November alone, export turnover was 24.8 billion USD, down 9 percent from the previous month, but up 8.8 percent compared with the same month last year.

Between January and November, the domestic economic sector generated about 73 billion USD in export value, up 1.6 percent, making up 28.7 percent of the total. Meanwhile, the foreign-invested sector, including crude oil, recorded 181.6 billion USD, up 6.9 percent, accounting for 71.3 percent of the total.

Thirty-one groups of commodities joined the billion-dollar export product club, including 10 groups posting more than 10 billion USD.

The heavy and mining industry raked in 138 billion USD, up 9.2 percent year-on-year. The light and handicrafts industry had an export value of 90.2 billion USD, up 1.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the agro-forestry export value reduced slightly by 0.1 percent year-on-year to 18.7 billion USD and seafood export value plunged by 0.9 percent to 7.7 billion USD.

The US remained the largest export market of Vietnamese goods in the 11 months, with a turnover of 69.9 billion USD, up 25.7 percent year-on-year. It was followed by China, with 43.1 billion USD, up 16 percent; the EU, 32.2 billion USD, down 2.4 percent; ASEAN, 20.9 billion USD, down 10.6 percent; the Republic of Korea (RoK), 17.7 billion USD, down 2.7 percent; and Japan, 17.3 billion USD, down 6.5 percent.

The GSO also reported that total imports in November were estimated at 24.2 billion USD, down 0.5 percent month-on-month but up 13.4 percent year-on-year.

As many as 34 kinds of goods saw import turnover exceeding 1 billion USD, 89.4 percent of the total.

China remained Vietnam’s largest import source, with a revenue of 73.9 billion USD, up 7.9 percent against the same period last year.

It was followed by the RoK, with 42 billion USD, down 2.9 percent; ASEAN, 27.3 billion USD, down 6.9 percent; Japan, 18.6 billion USD, up 4.8 percent; the EU, 13.2 billion USD, up 4.3 percent; and the US, 12.6 billion USD, down 3.6 percent.

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