VIETNAM POSTS NEARLY US$17 BILLION TRADE SURPLUS IN JAN-SEPT

Export cargo is transported to a deep-water port – PHOTO: ARCHIVES

HCMC – Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus of US$16.82 billion in the first nine months of this year as export growth continued to outpace imports, according to the National Statistics Office.

Total import-export value in the nine-month period reached US$680.66 billion, up 17.3% year-on-year. Exports amounted to US$348.74 billion, rising 16%, while imports totaled US$331.92 billion, up 18.8%.

In September alone, trade totaled US$82.49 billion, down 0.7% from August but 24.8% higher than the same month in 2024. Export revenue was US$42.67 billion, down 1.7% month-on-month but up 24.7% year-on-year. The domestic sector’s export revenue contracted 8.5%, while that of the foreign-invested sector, including crude oil, rose 37.5%.

Third-quarter exports totaled US$128.57 billion, up 18.4% against the same period last year and 9.6% over the second quarter. The country had 32 export items earning more than US$1 billion each, accounting for 93.1% of total exports, with seven of them exceeding US$10 billion, or 67.9%.

On the import side, September value was US$39.82 billion, up 0.4% month-on-month and 24.9% year-on-year. Third-quarter imports reached US$119.66 billion, up 20.2% versus a year earlier and 6.3% against the second quarter.

In the nine-month period, the domestic sector imported US$105.67 billion, up 4.6%, while the foreign-invested sector recorded US$226.25 billion, up 26.8%. Vietnam imported 43 items worth more than US$1 billion each, accounting for 92.9% of total imports.

The U.S. remained Vietnam’s largest export market with turnover of US$112.8 billion, while China was the biggest import market, at US$134.4 billion.

Source: The Saigon Times