Trade surplus widens to US$1.8 billion in seven months

Illustrative photo. (Source: Internet)

Exports brought home US$145.13 billion in the seven-month period, an increase of 7.5 per cent on year, Vietnam Economic Times quoted the General Statistics Office of Vietnam as saying.

Overseas shipments by the domestic economic sector enjoyed a growth rate of 12.2 per cent during the reviewed period, doubling the 5.6 per cent ratio of the foreign-invested sector.

The domestic sector secured US$44 billion from exports, or 30.3 per cent of the total export turnover. The foreign-invested sector retained its crown as the largest contributor to the national trade balance, with the export value of US$101.13 billion, equivalent to the remaining 69.7 per cent.

Last month, exports were estimated at US$22.60 billion, rising by 9.3 per cent on year and 5.5 per cent against the previous month.

Garment and textile exports in July soared by 12.8 per cent compared to one month earlier while machinery and spare parts, and electronics and components surged by 6.4 per cent and 4.3 per cent, respectively. Footwear exports saw a rise of 3.9 per cent.

Vietnam had 24 goods categories enjoy the export value exceeding US$1 billion in the seven-month period, accounting for 88.1 per cent of the total export value. Of these, four staples made over US$10 billion and subsequently make up a combined proportion of 51.6 per cent.

Elsewhere, imports increased annually by 8.3 per cent to reach US$143.34 billion over the seven-month period.

Some imports sloped down against the same period last year. Particularly, the import value of telephones and their components fell by 4.4 per cent to US$7.1 billion while that of base metals plunged by 20 per cent to US$3.7 billion.

During the first half of 2019, Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of US$1.59 billion with exports reaching US$122.53 billion, an annual rise of 7.2 per cent.