VIETNAM POSTS TRADE GAP OF US$1.47 BILLION IN FIRST HALF OF 2021

Vietnam recorded a trade deficit of US$1.47 billion in the first six months of 2021, data released by the General Statistics Office shows.

Exports were estimated at US$157.63 billion, up 28.4% while imports rose 36.1% to US$159.1 billion.

In the first half of 2021, the United States was the largest buyer of Vietnamese goods, importing US$44.9 billion, followed by China and the EU, which purchased US$24.4 billion and US$19.3 billion worth respectively.

Vietnam’s exports to other major trading partners, including ASEAN, the Republic of Korea and Japan were US$13.8 billion, US$10.5 billion and US$9.9 billion, respectively.

On the import side, China was the largest source of Vietnamese imports at US$53.4 billion, followed by the Republic of Korea at US$25.2 billion and ASEAN at US$20.9 billion.

Vietnam also imported US$10.6 billion worth of goods from Japan, US$8.1 billion from the EU and US$7.7 billion from the US.

In other economic data released by the GSO, the consumer price index (CPI) in June rose by 0.19% as against the previous month but the average CPI in the first six months climbed by only 1.47% compared to the same period last year, the lowest figure since 2016.

The number of foreign arrivals in the first six months of 2021 was estimated at 88,200, down 97.6% year on year, as Vietnam continued to take measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and has yet to open its borders to international travel.

Tourism revenues fell 51.8% to VND4.5 trillion (US$195 million), also in part due to less buoyant domestic tourism as social distancing measures were imposed across many localities to curb the resurgence of the virus.

Source: VCCI