Vietnam posts US$548 million trade deficit in five months

Vietnam is estimated to suffer US$548 million worth of trade deficit in the first five months of this year, resulting from a US$13.28 billion trade deficit of the domestic sector and a US$12.73 billion trade surplus of the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector (including crude oil).

Vietnam is estimated to suffer US$548 million worth of trade deficit in the first five months of this year. (Illustrative image)
Vietnam is estimated to suffer US$548 million worth of trade deficit in the first five months of this year. (Illustrative image)

According to the General Statistics Office, Vietnam reported an export revenue of US$100.74 billion in the first five months of 2019, up 6.7% year-on-year, including US$30.33 billion export revenue of the domestic sector, a year-on-year increase of 11.6% and US$70.41 billionexport revenue of FDI sector, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%.

As many as 19 different types of goods posted export revenue of over US$1 billion each in January-May period, accounting for 84.4% of total Vietnam’s export revenue.Phones and components, electronic products, computers and components, garments and textiles recorded the highest export revenue during the five-month period.

In the first five months of this year, the country is estimated to import over US$101 billion worth of goods, up 10.3% over the same period in 2018. The period also saw 21 different types of goods posting an import revenue of over US$1 billion each, accounting for 80.3% of Vietnam’s total import revenue.

The US was the largest exporting market of Vietnam in the first five months of this year with a total export revenue of US$22.6 billion, a 28% year-on-year increase. It was followed by the EU, China, ASEAN, the Republic of Korea and Japan.

Meanwhile, China remained the largest importer of Vietnamese goods in the first five months of this yearwith a total import revenue of US$29.6 billion, up 19% over the same period last year. The Republic of Korea, ASEAN and Japan were the subsequent import markets ofVietnam.