Of the total figure, 80.8% foreign tourists traveled to the country by air, down by 65.7% on year, said the statistics agency.

Last year, Viet Nam welcomed a record number of inbound tourists, reaching over 18 million, up 16.2% against 2018, according to the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism.

The country set goal to host 20.5 million international visitors with total revenues of US$36 billion in 2020.

Meanwhile, Viet Nam’s trade with the rest of the world dipped by 0.3% on year in January-August, to US$336.32 billion, in which export value rose 1.6% to US$174.11 billion and import turnover declined by 2.2% to US$162.21 billion.

It is worth noting that the domestic sector’s export turnover rose 15.3% to US$60.80 billion while its import volume posted an annualized increase of 2.9% to US$72.05 billion.

Top export items in the reviewed period included phones and spare parts (US$31.5 billion, down 5.5% on year), electronic products, computers and spare parts (US$27.6 billion, up 24.8%), garments and textiles (US$19.2 billion, up 31.9%), footwear (US$10.9 billion, down 8.6%).

The US was the largest importer of Vietnamese goods, with total turnover of US$46.7 billion, up 19% against the same period last year, followed by China with US$27 billion, up 13%, and the EU with US$22.9 billion, down 4%./.