Business

Vietnam posts trade deficit of 16.65 billion USD in first six months

Overall, total trade turnover in the first six months of 2026 stood at 549.69 billion USD, up 27.1% compared with the same period last year, of which exports rose 21% and imports increased 33.4%.

Container ships unloading goods at Quy Nhon Port - the main import and export gateway for goods from the Central Highlands, and the starting point in Gia Lai province's logistics system (Photo: VNA)
Container ships unloading goods at Quy Nhon Port - the main import and export gateway for goods from the Central Highlands, and the starting point in Gia Lai province's logistics system (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s total import-export turnover in June reached 104.22 billion USD, up 5.2% month-on-month and 36.3% year-on-year, according to a socio-economic report for the second quarter and first half of 2026 released on July 3 by the National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Finance.

Overall, total trade turnover in the first six months of 2026 stood at 549.69 billion USD, up 27.1% compared with the same period last year, of which exports rose 21% and imports increased 33.4%.

The figures reflect rising input demand in the economy, while also indicating a strong recovery in production activities, particularly in the foreign-invested sector, said Nguyen Thu Oanh, head of the Statistics Division for Services and Prices at the NSO.

In June alone, export turnover stood at 50.79 billion USD, up 8.2% from the previous month. The domestic economic sector contributed 10.01 billion USD, up 10.5%, while the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) reached 40.78 billion USD, up 7.7%. Compared with the same period last year, June exports rose 28.1%.

In the second quarter, export turnover hit 143.6 billion USD, up 22.7% year-on-year and 16.8% quarter-on-quarter.

For the first half of 2026, total export turnover reached 266.52 billion USD, up 21% year-on-year. The domestic sector accounted for 53.51 billion USD, up 4.6% and making up 20.1% of total exports, while the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) generated d 213.01 billion USD, up 26%, accounting for 79.9%.

During the period, 29 export items recorded a turnover of above 1 billion USD, accounting for 92.1% of total exports, including five items exceeding 10 billion USD and making up 62.6%.

In terms of structure, processed industrial goods dominated exports with 239.8 billion USD (90%), followed by agricultural and forestry products at 19.23 billion USD (7.2%), seafood at 5.76 billion USD (2.2%), and fuels and minerals at 1.73 billion USD (0.6%).

On the import side, June import turnover reached 53.43 billion USD, up 2.5% month-on-month and 45.2% year-on-year. Imports in the second quarter reached 156.6 billion USD, up 39.1% year-on-year.

Total imports in the first six months amounted to 283.17 billion USD, up 33.4% year-on-year, including 78.46 billion USD from the domestic sector (up 24.3%) and 204.71 billion USD from the foreign-invested sector (up 37.3%).

There were 38 import items with turnover exceeding 1 billion USD, accounting for 92.1% of total imports, including two items exceeding 10 billion USD and making up 51%.

Capital goods accounted for 94.1% of total imports (266.4 billion USD), with machinery, equipment and tools making up 56% and raw materials 38.1%. Consumer goods accounted for 5.9%, worth 16.77 billion USD.

Preliminary data show Vietnam recorded a trade deficit of 16.65 billion USD in the first half of 2026, compared with a surplus of 7.95 billion USD in the same period last year. The domestic sector posted a deficit of 24.95 billion USD, while the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) recorded a surplus of 8.3 billion USD./.

VNA
#Vietnam’s import-export turnover #National Statistics Office (NSO) #trade turnover #trade deficit
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