Vietnam has recorded a trade surplus of US$1.9 billion during the first five months of the year despite the COVID-19 impact, according to the latest statistics released by the General Statistics Office (GSO) on May 29.

The GSO said the total import and export turnover during the reviewed period dropped by 2.8% to US$196.84 billion in comparison to the same period from last year. 

Elsewhere the five-month period saw the export turnover of goods in the domestic sector enjoy an increase of 10.4% to US$33.3 billion, while the foreign invested sector grossed approximately US$66.06 billion, representing a decline of 6.9% on-year and accounting for 66.5% of the total export turnover figure.

In total, 17 items witnessed export turnover exceeding US$1 billion, making up 82% of total export turnover. They included phones and components, electronics, computers and components, textiles and garments, machinery, equipment and spare parts, along with footwear and wooden products.

Despite this large sum, the export turnover of a number of agricultural products suffered a downward trajectory in comparison with last year. As a result, the export value of fruit and vegetables fell by 10.3% to US$1.6 billion, while the export of rubber and pepper dropped by 29.6% and 17.9% to US$470 million and US$309 million, respectively.

By contrast, a range of agricultural products enjoyed an increase in export turnover, including rice with US$1.4 billion, coffee with US$1.4 billion, and cashew nuts with US$1.2 billion.

With regard to the export commodity market, the United States remained as Vietnam’s largest export market during the five-month period, with turnover enjoying an annual surge of 8.2% to US$24.6 billion, followed by China with US$16.3 billion, representing an increase of 20.1%.

Export revenue from the EU, ASEAN, and the Republic of Korean (RoK) markets suffered falls of 12%, 13.4%, and 0.5%, respectively, while the Japanese market saw an increase of 2.2% to US$8.1 billion in export turnover.

Elsewhere, Vietnam imported goods with a total value of US$97.48 billion, representing a decline of 3.8% on-year.

At present, China remains the country’s largest importer with an estimated turnover of US$28.9 billion, a fall of 3% from the same period last year, trailed by the RoK, ASEAN, Japan, the US, and the EU.