The country's export earnings grew by 10.6%, while its import turnover rose by 17%, resulting in a trade surplus of 3.16 billion USD in the period.

In March alone, the total trade revenue reached 75.39 billion USD, up 18.2% compared to the previous month, and 16.6% year-on-year.

The export value in the month stood at 38.51 billion USD, up 23.8% month-on-month. The domestic economic sector posted an impressive growth rate of 32.1% to 11.08 billion USD, while the foreign-invested sector, including crude oil, increased by 20.7% to 27.43 billion USD.

For the first quarter, Vietnam's export turnover reached 102.84 billion USD, a 10.6% year-on-year rise. The domestic sector contributed 29.02 billion USD (up 15%), accounting for 28.2% of total exports, while the foreign-invested sector, including crude oil, earned 73.82 billion USD (up 9%), making up 71.8% of total exports.

During this period, 18 export items surpassed the 1 billion USD mark, accounting for 84.5% of total export value. Five of these items exceeded 5 billion USD, or 59.9%.

On the import side, Vietnam spent 99.68 billion on imports in the Jan – March period, up 17% year-on-year. The domestic sector imported 36.78 billion USD worth of goods (up 19.3%), while the foreign-invested sector’s import value stood at 62.9 billion USD (up 15.8%).

Seventeen imported items exceeded 1 billion USD in value, comprising 77.2% of total imports, with two of those surpassed the 5 billion USD mark, accounting for 44.4%.

The US remained Vietnam’s largest export market, with turnover reaching 31.4 billion USD. Meanwhile, China continued to be the country’s biggest import source, with imports valued at 38.1 billion USD.

In the first quarter, Vietnam ran a trade surplus of 27.3 billion USD with the US, a 22.1% increase year-on-year, while its surplus with the EU expanded by 15.7% to 9.9 billion USD. Notably, the country’s trade surplus with Japan surged to 0.6 billion USD, over 5 times higher than the same period in 2024.

The first quarter ended with impressive growth figures in the import-export sector. However, with potential challenges ahead, the Government, ministries, and the business community need to have proactive and flexible approach and take timely solutions to maintain this growth momentum in the coming period, said insiders.