Export items are loaded onto a boat at Vung Ang Port in the central province of Ha Tinh. The trade deficit for the first half of the year reached over US$1.4 billion, or 2.3 per cent of the total export turnover. — VNA/VNS Photo Ha Thai

HA NOI (Biz Hub)— The nation ran a trade deficit of US$1.4 billion in the first six months of this year, equivalent to 2.3 per cent of the country's total export turnover.

The country's total export turnover in the first half of the year reached $62.053 billion, a rise of more than 16.1 per cent over the same period last year. Total import turnover jumped 17.4 per cent, reaching $63.456 billion.

The foreign direct investment (FDI) sector continued to surpass the domestic sector in both exports and imports, said Le Minh Thuy, director of the General Statistics Office (GSO)'s Trade Department.

The FDI sector contributed up to $41.14 billion to the total export turnover, a rise of 24.7 per cent over the same period last year, while the domestic sector saw a slight increase of only 2.2 per cent.

The FDI sector also saw imports increase by 27.8 per cent to $35.726 billion, significantly higher than the domestic sector's 6.3 per cent increase.

In the first half of the year, the FDI sector recorded a trade surplus of up to $5.414 billion. June alone accounted for $2.55 billion of that surplus.

FDI enterprises mainly exported phones, electronics and garment-textile products and imported mainly raw materials for production.

More imports from China

According to the GSO, imports from China in the first six months of the year hit $17 billion, accounting for 26 per cent of the country's total import turnover – a rise of 33.2 per cent over the same period last year.

The excess of imports over exports hit nearly $11 billion, increasing up to 64.3 per cent.

Products imported from China were mainly used by domestic enterprises involved in industrial production. They included plastics, chemicals, iron and steel, fertilisers and pesticides.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the domestic industrial production sector was recovering, estimated to rise 5.3 per cent and see a long-awaited decrease in inventories.

However, Thuy cautioned that it was still not certain domestic enterprises would be able to recover production, as their imports saw low growth of only 6.3 per cent in the year's first half. — VNS