Addressing a press conference in Ha Noi on January 5 to release fourth-quarter and full-year economic data, NSO Director General Nguyen Thi Huong said the domestic sector ran a 29.43 billion USD trade deficit, while the foreign-invested sector, including crude oil, recorded a surplus of 49.46 billion USD.
December exports hit 44.03 billion USD, up 12.6% from November. Domestic firms contributed 9.7 billion USD, a 17.9% gain, while foreign-invested companies drove the bulk with 34.33 billion USD, up 11.2%.
Fourth-quarter exports totaled 126.3 billion USD, leaping 20% year-on-year though dipping 1.7% sequentially. Full-year exports rose 17% to 475.04 billion USD, with domestic players shipping 107.95 billion USD, down 6.1% and accounting for only 22.7% of the total, versus 367.09 billion USD from foreign-invested firms, up 26.1% and claiming 77.3%.
The GSO said 36 product categories topped 1 billion USD in export revenue, or 94% of total exports. Eight exceeded 10 billion USD, making up 70.2%.
Processed industrial products led with 421.47 billion USD, or 88.7% of exports. Agriculture and forestry brought in 39.46 billion USD (8.3%), seafood 11.29 billion USD (2.4%), and fuels and minerals 2.83 billion USD (0.6%).
On the import side, December purchases jumped 17.6% month-on-month to 44.69 billion USD. Domestic buyers spent 14.57 billion USD (up 28.5%), while the foreign-invested sector imported 30.11 billion USD (up 13%). Year-on-year, December imports exploded 27.7%, powered by a 43.4% spike in foreign-invested demand.
Fourth-quarter imports totaled 123.1 billion USD, up 21.3% annually and 2.9% quarterly. Annual imports grew 19.4% to 455.01 billion USD, with domestic firms importing 137.38 billion USD, down 2%, and foreign entities 317.63 billion USD, up 31.9%.
In 2025, 47 imported items topped 1 billion USD, accounting for 93.8% of the total, including nine above 10 billion USD.
Production inputs overwhelmed the import basket at 426.11 billion USD (93.6%). Machinery, equipment, and spare parts accounted for 52.7% of that segment, raw materials and fuels 40.9%, while consumer goods trailed at just 28.9 billion USD (6.4%).
The US solidified its position as Viet Nam’s biggest export market with 153.2 billion USD in purchases, while China remained the largest supplier at 186 billion USD.
Viet Nam ran a 133.9 billion surplus with the US, up 28.2%, and 38.6 billion USD with the European Union, up 10.1%. The surplus with Japan narrowed sharply by 30.1% to 2.1 billion USD. Deficits ballooned with China to 115.6 billion USD, up 39.6%; the Republic of Korea 31.6 billion USD, up 4.3%; and ASEAN 14.2 billion USD, up 42.4%.
