Vietnam reports over $11 billion trade surplus in 2019, beating estimates

The country’s 2019 trade surplus has widened from $7.21 billion surplus in 2018, with total import- export revenue at nearly $517.3 billion, beating expectation of the Vietnamese government.  

Of the trade revenue, Vietnam exported nearly $264.2 billion and imported $253 billion last year while foreign invested companies recorded a total trade revenue of over $323.8 billion, with a trade surplus of over $34.5 billion.

Last year, Vietnam’s rice exports grew 4.2% from a year earlier to 6.4 million tons. However, revenue from rice exports fell 8.3% to $2.8 billion.

In December, Vietnam exported 500,000 tons rice, up nearly 37% from November, with total value of $228 million.

Earlier, Vietnam’s General Statistics Office forecast 2019 rice exports at $6.25 million tons, and December exports at 390,000 tons, Reuters cited customs data.

FDI sector plays significant role in Vietnam’s trade activities, with phone exports reached nearly $51.4 billion, up 4.4% from a year earlier, customs data says.

In December, Vietnam reported nearly $260 million in trade surplus on $44.8 billion import-export trade revenue while the FDI sector enjoyed $2.46 billion surplus on $25.8 billion trade revenue.     

In earlier report, the department reported a trade deficit of $1 billion in the final month of last year. 

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