In October alone, the country’s export turnover to the U.K. hit 687.2 million USD, up more than 13% from the previous month.
The 10-month growth has been driven by some key export items with large turnover such as machinery, equipment, spare parts, computers, electronics, footwear and textiles.
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An electronics production factory in the Northern province of Thai Nguyen |
The leading export category in the last 10 months was machinery, equipment and spare parts, with a turnover of 1.14 billion USD, up 39.7% year-on-year and accounting for 17.9% of total exports.
Next was mobile phones and components with over 1.03 billion USD in turnover, down 12.9% compared to the same period last year and accounting for 16.3% of total exports so far.
Some other categories saw significant growth in exports compared to 2023.
Computers, electronics, and components increased by 30.7%. Handbags, suitcases and umbrellas rose by 18%. Seafood increased by nearly 10%.
Base metals grew by 30.2%, wood and wood products by 15.5%, steel products by 34%, and transportation means and spare parts by 35.7%.
The Vietnam–U.K. Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), which has been in effect since 2021, has been a key driver of this growth. For three consecutive years since the agreement's implementation, Vietnam’s exports to the U.K. have seen significant improvement, with large trade surpluses.
In 2021, two-way trade between the two countries was 6.6 billion USD, up 17.2% from 2020, with a trade surplus of 4.8 billion USD.
In 2022, due to global challenges and economic difficulties in the U.K., two-way trade decreased, but Vietnam’s exports to the U.K. still grew by about 1.9%.
In 2023, while Vietnam’s exports to several markets declined, with some dropping to 30%, exports to the U.K. still grew by 11%.
Vietnam-U.K. trade this year was forecast to reach 8.5-8.7 billion USD.
Source: VNA