Phones and components lead in Vietnam’s export turnover in the first nine months of this year, with a value of US$38.6 billion, marking a year-on-year increase of 5.1 per cent and accounting for 19.9 per cent of total exports.

According to Director General of the General Statistics Office (GSO) Nguyen Bich Lam, phones and components achieved the highest value among the country’s top five export goods with turnovers of more than $10 billion each, which include electronics, computers and components ($25.4 billion), textiles and garments ($24.8 billion), footwear ($13.3 billion), and machinery and spare parts ($12.9 billion).

“The top five goods accounted for 59.2 per cent of the country’s total export value, which reached $194.3 billion in the January-September period, up 8.2 per cent year-on-year,” said Lam.

He said the US was Vietnam’s largest export market during the period with a value of $44.9 billion, up 28.2 per cent compared with the same period last year. It was followed by the EU with $31.1 billion, China with $27.8 billion, ASEAN with $19.4 billion, Japan with $15.1 billion and the Republic of Korea with $14.5 billion.

In the first nine months of this year, the country’s export turnover reached $194.3 billion, up 8.2 per cent over the same period last year, meanwhile, the import turnover is estimated at $188.42 billion, up 8.9 per cent – resulting in a trade surplus of nearly $6 billion.

China remained the largest import market of Vietnam with a turnover of $55.5 billion, up 17.3 per cent year-on-year. It was followed by the South Korean market with $35.4 billion, up 1 per cent, ASEAN market reached $24.1 billion, up 3.8 per cent, and Japan reached $14.1 billion, up 1.8 per cent.

The GSO statistics show that there were 32 import items reaching turnover of over $1 billion each, accounting for 88.8 per cent of total import turnover. Of which, electronics, computers and components increased by 23 per cent to $38.6 billion, and machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts reached $27.1 billion, up 13.1 per cent.

Agro-forestry-fishery exports up

Vietnam witnessed an increase of 2.7 per cent to $30.02 billion in the export value of agro-forestry-fishery products during the period, according to a report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The nine-month export growth was mainly driven by forestry products that reached $7.93 billion, up 18 per cent, and livestock $530 million, up 8.6 per cent.

Products with export turnover of more than $2 billion include wood and timber products, coffee, rice, cashew nut, vegetables and fruit, and shrimp.

Meanwhile, the country spent $23.16 billion on agro-forestry-fishery imports, down 1.2 per cent from the same time last year.