Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus of USD711 million in the first four months of 2019. (Photo: VGP)
According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, total import and export turnover in the first four months of 2019 was estimated at USD156.8 billion, of which exports reached USD78.8 billion, up 5.8% over the same period last year, and imports were at US$78 billion, up 10.4%.
Export turnover increased by 5.8% compared to the same period in 2018, of which the domestic economic sector gained USD23.33 billion, up 10.5% and accounting for 29.6% of the total, while the foreign invested sector (including crude oil) reached USD55.43 billion, up 4% and accounting for 70.4% (the proportion decreased by 1.2 percentage points compared to the same period last year).
In the last four months, 16 export items earned value of more than USD1 billion, accounting for 81.2% of total export turnover. Of which, several items increased their export value over the same period last year, including electronics, computers and components reaching USD9.6 billion, up 12.6%, textiles and garments reaching USD9.4 billion, up 9.8%, footwear USD5.3 billion, up 13.4%, machinery, equipment and spare parts at USD5.3 billion, up 4.1%, and wood and wood products reaching USD3.1 billion, up 17.8.
Although phones and components enjoyed the largest export value, reaching USD16 billion and accounting for 20.4% of the total exports, the items decreased by 0.2% compared to the same period last year. Seafood exports were also down 1.3%, reaching USD2.4 billion.
The United States continues to be Vietnam's largest export market with a turnover of USD17.8 billion, up 28.4% over the same period last year, of which phones and components rose 104.9%, footwear increased by 9.4%, and textiles and garments were up by 8.5%. The EU ranked second with USD13.7 billion, followed by China at USD10.4 billion, down 5.8%, and ASEAN with USD8.4 billion, up 7.3%.
Regarding the imported goods market, China is still the largest import market of Vietnam with a value at USD22.3 billion, up 18.8% compared to the same period last year, followed by the Republic of Korea with USD15.5 billion and ASEAN with USD10.8 billion./.