During the period, exports rose by 18.7% to US$115.2 billion while imports came in at US$118.3 billion, up 24%.
The GSO confirmed that domestic enterprises ran a deficit of US$14.77 billion while the foreign sector, including oil exporters, recorded a surplus of US$11.69 billion.
The first seven months of 2017 continued to see steady growth of Vietnam’s main exports, with phones and components up 15% to US$22.6 billion, garments up 8.1% to US$14.2 billion and footwear up 12.9% to US$8.4 billion.
Other key exports such as machinery, seafood, timber and coffee also posted strong growth.
The United States remained the largest consumer of Vietnamese goods at US$23.4 billion, followed by the EU and China at US$21.5 billion and US$15.5 billion respectively.
Conversely, Vietnam’s major imports in the January-July period were machinery, electronic devices, fabric, steel, plastics and chemicals.
In the first seven months of 2017, China still accounted for the largest share of Vietnam’s imports at US$31.7 billion, up 15.8% year on year. The Republic of Korea and ASEAN came second and third with US$26.7 billion and US$16 billion respectively.
