Vietnam had a combined trade surplus of USD 57.5 billion with the US and the EU, up 7.3 percent from the same period last year and six times higher than the country’s total figure of USD 6.81 billion.
This figure substantially contributed to the national foreign exchange reserves, which have grown to a record high of more than USD 60 billion so far this year.
Over the period, Vietnam had its largest trade surplus of USD 31.9 billion with the US, up 8.1 percent year on year and 4.7 times higher than the total national trade surplus. The most growth was recorded in exports of mobile phones and accessories (49.8 percent), footwear (14.6 percent) and garment and textile (12.4 percent).
Vietnam’s trade surplus with the EU stood at USD 25.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6.2 percent. Among EU countries, Vietnam posted the largest trade surplus with the United Kingdom, which imported more than USD 4.73 billion worth of commodities from Vietnam in the first 10 months of the year while the UK’s exports to the Asian nation hit USD 694 million.
    |
 |
|
Illustrative image. Photo: VNA |
Meanwhile, Vietnam ran trade deficits with 27 foreign markets, of which nine recorded trade deficits of more than USD 1 billion and five others exceeded USD 2 billion.
As the Vietnam-Korea Free Trade Agreement entered into force, the Republic of Korean surpassed China to become the foreign market Vietnam posted the largest trade deficit with. From January to November, Vietnam’s trade deficit with the RoK was worth USD 26.6 billion, down from USD 29.2 billion over the corresponding period of 2017, or 8.9 percent.
Exclusive of unofficial cross-border trade, Vietnam reported a trade deficit of USD 21.6 billion with China in the first 11 months, down from USD 21.9 billion in the same period last year.
The RoK and China were followed by Taiwan and Thailand which Vietnam had trade deficits of nearly USD 8.43 billion and USD 5.04 billion, respectively.
Last year, Vietnam maintained a trade surplus of about USD 2.7 billion, the same figure as 2016.
National trade value in 2017 was estimated at nearly USD 425 billion. The value of exports was estimated at USD 213.77 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21 percent, higher than the annual growth rate of 9 percent in export value in 2016.
Meanwhile, the value of imports in 2017 was estimated at USD 211.1 billion, 20.8 percent higher than the previous year.
Foreign-invested companies notched a trade surplus of USD 28.8 billion, contributing substantially to the total national trade surplus, while the domestic economic sector continued to have a trade deficit of 26.2 billion USD.
Source: VNA