The General Statistics Office (GSO) estimated that exports in the January-March period will fall to US$46.5 billion, with agricultural produce plunging by 29% and seafood 38%.
Garment and footwear exports are also forecast to drop by 22% and 17% respectively while phone and phone parts will drop by 27%.
According to the GSO’s projections, exports to China will fall by 25% in the first three months of 2020 to US$5.6 billion.
Agricultural goods and seafood are expected to be effected the most and are predicted to record the largest reductions in exports.
In January, Vietnam exported US$19 billion worth of goods, down 15.8% from the previous month while it imported goods worth a total of US$19.1 billion.
The United States was the largest buyer of Vietnamese goods in January at US$4.8 billion, followed by China’s US$3.7 billion and the EU’s US$2.6 billion.