Trade surplus reaches US$9.8 billion in first five months

In its latest report, published on May 29, the GSO said that the domestic sector suffered a trade gap of US$8.76 billion while the FDI sector gained a trade surplus of US$18.56 billion (including crude oil). 

In May, Viet Nam’s total trade turnover was estimated at US$ 55.86 billion, representing a month-on-month increase of 5.3 percent and a year-on-year growth of 12.3 percent. 

In the first five months, trade turnover totalled US$262.54 billion, representing a month-on-month decline of 14.7 percent.

Export turnover was estimated at US$136.17 billion, down 11.6 percent against the same period last year.

In the reviewed period, 23 commodities earned over US$1 billion in export turnover each, accounting for 87.4 percent of the total export turnover. 

In May, import turnover was estimated at US$ 26.81 billion, representing a month-on-month increase of 6.4 percent. 

In the first five months, import turnover was estimated at US$126.37 billion, down 17.9 percent against the same period last year including US$ 43.95 billion made by domestic sector and US$ 82.42 billion made by the FDI sector. 

Up to 24 import items valued over US$1 billion each, making up 81.2 percent of the total export turnover. 

In the January-May period, the U.S. was the largest importer of Vietnamese products with US$ 37.2 billion, followed by China with US$ 43.4 billion. 

Especially, Viet Nam gained a trade surplus of US$ 31.2 billion with the U.S., US$12.6 billion with the EU, and US$ 521 million with Japan.

Meanwhile, the Southeast Asian country suffered from a trade deficit of US$23.6 billion with China, US$10.8 billion with South Korea, and US$3.4 billion with ASEAN./.