Jan-July import-export revenue higher than 2013 full-year figure

Preliminary customs statistics from the department showed that the total value of imports and exports in July reached a record high of US$41.2 billion, a 6.1% rise against the previous month.

Vietnam exported goods worth more than US$20.3 billion, up by 2.4% month-on-month, while the country spent over US$20.9 billion purchasing foreign goods, up by 10%.

July was the second month this year, after January, in which the total value of imports and exports was above US$20 billion.

Overall, the total import-export revenue in the year to late July had amounted to US$266.1 billion, rising by 13.5%, or US$31.7 billion, over last year. The revenue was even higher than that of the full year in 2013, at US$264.07 billion.

The respective figures for the seven-month import and export turnover were more than US$131.6 billion and US$134.5 billion, up by 11.1% and 16%, respectively, according to the customs agency.

While Vietnam recorded a trade deficit in goods in May and July, the country recorded a trade surplus in the first four months of the year. As a result, there was still a US$2.85-billion surplus in its seven-month trade balance, compared with a trade deficit of US$2.61 billion in the same period last year.

The customs agency noted that the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector had earned US$172 billion in imports and exports in the year to end-July, up by 13.3%, or US$20.2 billion, over the same period last year.

During this period, outbound sales of the FDI sector rose by 15.9% year-on-year to US$94.2 billion, while the sector imported goods worth US$77.8 billion, up by 10.4%. Therefore, the sector gained a trade surplus of US$16.4 billion.

Among the export commodities, phone and phone parts earned more than US$26.4 billion between January and July, a year-on-year increase of 17.4%. Textiles and garments came second with some US$16.5 billion (up by 16%), followed by computers, electronic products and their spare parts, earning US$15.9 billion (up by 16.2%).

Meanwhile, imports of computers, electronic products and their spare parts rose by 13.9% to more than US$23.1 billion. Machinery, equipment, tools and other accessories came second, earning some US$18.8 billion, down by 6.4%, followed by phones and phone parts, earning more than US$7.3 billion, down by a mere 0.6%.