Vietnam posted a trade deficit of $500 million in the first month of 2022, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The country’s imports expanded 11.5 per cent year-on-year to $29.5 billion, while exports rose by 1.6 per cent year-on-year to $29 billion.

Vietnam’s export-import turnover in the month was estimated to value at $58.5 billion, down 11.7 per cent month-on-month but up 6.3 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The domestic sector earned $8.2 billion from exports, up 20.1 per cent against the same period last year. The foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) raked in $20.8 billion, a decrease of 4.2 per cent.

Seven items recorded export turnover of more than $1 billion each. They represented 63.3 per cent of the total. Industrial and processing products held a lion’s share of 88.5 per cent.

Four products posted import turnover of more than $1 billion each, together they represented 46.8 per cent of the total. Input materials accounted for the largest share of the total imports, or 93.7 per cent year-on-year.

The US remained the biggest export market of Vietnam in January, buying an estimated amount of $9 billion of Vietnamese goods.

China was Vietnam’s biggest source of imports, shipping $10.2 billion worth of goods to the Southeast Asian country.

In January, Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus of $2.1 billion with the EU.

VIET NAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK