The National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Finance said that in the first quarter of 2026, Viet Nam’s goods exports maintained strong growth momentum despite continued difficulties and uncertainties in the global economy and trade. Goods export turnover in March reached 46.44 billion USD, up 40.3% from the previous month and 20.1% year on year. Overall, goods export turnover in the first quarter of 2026 totalled 122.93 billion USD, an increase of 19.1% over the same period last year.
Twenty export items posted turnover of more than 1 billion USD, accounting for 86.8% of total export turnover. Notably, five of these export items exceeded 5 billion USD, making up 62.4%.
A representative of the National Statistics Office said that export growth was driven mainly by the processing and manufacturing sector, which generated 110.5 billion USD, up 21.1%, and accounted for nearly 90% of total export turnover. Within this group, several major export items recorded sharp increases, including electronics, computers, and components at 30.7 billion USD, up 45.5%; phones at 16.7 billion USD, up 19.3%; and machinery, equipment, tools, and spare parts at 15 billion USD, up 21.2%.
Meanwhile, agricultural, forestry, and fishery products continued to play an important role, helping to stabilise exports amid difficulties.
Nguyen Thu Oanh, Head of the Service and Price Statistics Department at the National Statistics Office, said the result demonstrated the strong adaptability of Vietnamese businesses in the face of challenges in global trade.
According to the office’s report, the goods import turnover in March reached 47.11 billion USD, up 38.2% from the previous month and 27.8% year on year.
In the first quarter of 2026 as a whole, the goods import turnover stood at 126.57 billion USD, up 27% from the same period last year, with production materials accounting for nearly 94% of total import turnover. Notably, 22 imported items posted turnover of more than 1 billion USD, representing 82.8% of total import turnover, including two items worth more than 5 billion USD, accounting for 49.8%.
Statistics show that faster growth of imports than exports resulted in a goods trade deficit of about 3.6 billion USD in the first quarter of 2026, whereas the same period last year recorded a surplus of 3.57 billion USD.
Explaining the trade deficit in the first quarter of 2026, Oanh said: “Against a backdrop of continuing volatility in the global economy, the shift to a trade deficit mainly reflects the demand for imported machinery, equipment, and raw materials to serve production, while also showing that businesses are proactively increasing their input reserves to guard against the risk of supply chain disruptions and fluctuations in energy prices.”
