Vietnam sees US$7.21 billion trade surplus in 2018

Vietnam posted a trade surplus of US$7.21 billion in 2018, US$5.1 billion higher than the trade surplus in 2017, the General Department of Vietnam Customs stated on December 27.

Machinery, equipment, and components see the highest growth in export revenue compared to other commodities in 2018. (illustrative image)
Machinery, equipment, and components see the highest growth in export revenue compared to other commodities in 2018. (illustrative image)

The country reported total import-export revenues of US$482.23 billion in 2018, an increase of 12.6% against 2017, including US$244.72 billion worth of export revenue, up 13.8%, and US$237.51 billion worth of import revenue, up 11.5%.

In December alone, the total import-export revenue of Vietnam reached US$42.2 billion, down 2.6% over the previous month, including US$21 billion of export revenue (down 3.4%) and US$21.2 of import revenue (down 1.8%).

Machinery, equipment, and components earned total export revenues of US$16.53 billion in 2018, an increase of 28% over 2017, and was the highest growth in export revenue compared to other commodities.

Garments and textiles came in second in the expansion of export revenue at 16.6%, posting total export revenues of US$30.45 billion.

Meanwhile, fabrics reported the largest expansion in import revenue this year at 13.5%. It was followed by computers, electronic products and components at 12.5%.