Total export and import turnover reached 249.5 billion USD during the first quarter of 2026, up 23% from a year earlier, the National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Finance reported on April 4.

The sum consists of 122.93 billion USD in exports and 126.57 in imports, respectively increasing 19.1% and 27%. That resulted in a trade deficit of 3.64 billion USD, compared to a surplus of 3.57 billion USD recorded in the same period last year.

During the first three months, domestic enterprises posted 24.47 billion USD in exports, falling 16.6% and accounting for 19.9% of total overseas shipments, while foreign-invested firms reported 98.46 billion USD (including crude oil), up 33.3% and making up 80.1%.

Twenty product categories achieved export revenue of over 1 billion USD each, accounting for 86.8% of the total exports. Among them, five surpassed 5 billion USD, accounting for 62.4%.

Processed industrial goods raked in 110.52 billion USD, equivalent to 89.9% of the total; agricultural and forestry products 9.34 billion USD, 7.6%; aquatic products 2.64 billion USD, 2.2%; and fuel and mineral products 0.43 billion USD, 0.3%.

In Q1, 22 imported items reached a value exceeding 1 billion USD each, making up 82.8% of total import turnover (with two items worth more than 5 billion USD each, accounting for 49.8%).

Regarding the structure of imports, production materials were valued at 118.84 billion USD, representing 93.9%. Among them, machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts accounted for 55.3%; raw materials and fuels 38.6%; and consumer goods 6.1%.

Domestic businesses imported 35.2 billion USD worth of goods during the first three months, down 4.3%, while foreign-invested companies 91.37 billion USD, up 45.3%.

In March alone, exports and imports totalled 93.55 billion USD, increasing 39.2% from the previous month and 23.9% from the same period last year.

Last month’s overseas shipments reached 46.44 billion USD, climbing 40.3% month on month. Of this, domestic firms recorded 8.96 billion USD, up 39.2% from February, and the foreign-invested sector 37.48 billion USD (including crude oil), up 40.6%.

Compared to the same period last year, the export value in March went up 20.1%, with that of the domestic sector decreasing 20.1% and the foreign-invested one (including crude oil) rising 36.5%.

Meanwhile, imports last month were estimated at 47.11 billion USD, a month-on-month increase of 38.2%. That led to a trade deficit of 0.67 billion USD in March, statistics show.