Exports shatter record with $18.7 billion in trade surplus: GSO

A ship loading goods at the Lach Huyen International Port in northern Hai Phong City. Viet Nam export shatters record in the first 10 months of 2020, netting $18.7 billion in trade surplus. — VA Photo

Viet Nam's exports rose 4.7 per cent year-on-year in the first ten months of this year to US$229.2 billion, for a trade surplus of a record $18.7 billion, according to the General Statistics Office.

In October alone, export value was estimated at $26.7 billion, down 1.7 per cent month-on-month but up 9.9 per cent year-on-year.

During the 10-month period, 31 goods earned over $1 billion each from exports, accounting for 91.8 per cent of the total. Five brought home more than $10 billion each, or 59.9 per cent.

Heavy industry and mining raked in $123.8 billion, up 8.4 per cent year-on-year. Light industry and handicrafts, meanwhile, reported revenue of $81.8 billion, up 1.5 per cent; agro-forestry $16.8 billion, down 1.5 per cent; and fisheries $6.9 billion, down 2.5 per cent.

The US remained the largest importer of Vietnamese goods in ten months, with a turnover of $62.3 billion, up 24 per cent year-on-year. It was followed by China, with $37.6 billion, up 14 per cent; the EU $28.9 billion, down 3 per cent, ASEAN $18.9 billion, down 11.6 per cent; the Republic of Korea (RoK) $16.3 billion, down 2.6 per cent; and Japan $15.6 billion, down 7 per cent.

Total imports in October were estimated at $24.5 billion, up 1.2 per cent month-on-month and 10.1 per cent year-on-year. Ten-month imports totalled $210.55 billion, up 0.4 per cent year-on-year.

As many as 34 types of goods saw import turnover exceeding $1 billion, accounting for 89.4 per cent of the total.

China remained Viet Nam’s largest import source, with revenue standing at $65.8 billion, an increase of 6.2 per cent against the same period last year. It was followed by the Republic of Korea (RoK), with $37.4 billion, down 5.3 per cent; ASEAN $24.4 billion, down 8.5 per cent; Japan $16.5 billion, up 2.5 per cent; the EU $11.8 billion, up 4.2 per cent; and the US $11.6 billion, down 2.4 per cent. — VNS