Viet Nam is one of the largest rice exporters in the world. The country's total exports earned US$109.63 billion in the first nine months, a 14.2 per cent year-on-year increase. — Photo vietq.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Viet Nam has gained a trade surplus of US$2.5 billion in the first nine months of 2014, a report from the General Statistics Office (GSO) revealed.

This is the eighth consecutive month that the country has achieved a trade surplus. It achieved a $244-million trade surplus in February after incurring a $100-million trade deficit in January.

Its surplus reached $1 billion in the first quarter, $683 million in the first four months, $1.6 billion in the first five months and $1.3 billion in the first half. After seven months, the surplus increased to $1.26 billion.

The nation's total exports earned $109.63 billion in the first nine months, a 14.2-per cent year-on-year increase, and its total imports reached $107.16 billion, an 11.1-per cent year-on-year increase. The imports mostly consisted of materials and sub-materials for production.

The foreign direct investment (FDI) sector accounted for the largest proportion of export and import value in the first nine months, with exports worth $73 billion, a 14.2-per cent year-on-year increase, and imports worth $60.3 billion, a 9.8-per cent year-on-year increase.

Meanwhile, GSO experts noted signs of recovery in domestic enterprise production, as the enterprises imported more materials and sub-materials.

According to GSO, in the first nine months, domestic enterprises imported $7 billion worth of fabrics, a 15.1-per cent year-on-year increase; $3.5 billion worth of garments and textile accessories, a 25.3-per cent year-on-year increase; and $2.3 billion worth of plastic materials, a 23.1-per cent year-on-year increase.

The United States remained the country's largest export market in the first eight months, accounting for $21 billion in exports, or 22.7 per cent more than that of the same period last year.

Other significant export markets include the European Union with $20.1 billion in exports, or a 13 per cent rise from that of last year, and ASEAN with $14 billion.

A number of key exports achieved high growth in the first eight months of the year, including textiles and garments with $15.5 billion, an 18.9-per cent year-on-year rise; telephone and telephone components with $17 billion, a 10.1-per cent year-on-year rise; and crude oil with $5.78 billion, a 9.7-per cent year-on-year rise.

The GSO also reported that the largest import market was China with $31.1 billion, a 15.6 per cent rise from that of the same period last year.— VNS