Singapore (VNA) — Trade ties between Vietnam and Singapore continued to expand at a record pace in the first 11 months of 2025, with both exports and imports posting robust growth, reflecting the strong momentum of bilateral economic cooperation.
Vietnam remained Singapore’s 10th largest trading partner during the period. Two-way trade reached nearly 36 billion SGD (about 27.89 billion USD), up 25.7% year-on-year and 13.56% higher than the total trade value recorded for the whole of 2024, which stood at 31.67 billion SGD. This marked the highest bilateral trade value ever recorded between the two economies.
Citing data from Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, the Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore reported that in November alone, bilateral trade totalled 2.9 billion SGD, an increase of 15.8% compared to the same month in 2024. Singapore’s exports to Vietnam reached 1.8 billion SGD, edging up 0.1%, while its imports from Vietnam surged 55.2% to 1.1 billion SGD.
Of Singapore’s November exports to Vietnam, domestically manufactured goods were valued at 450.3 million SGD, down 13.4%, while re-exports amounted to 1.4 billion SGD, up 5.6%.
For January - November, Singapore’s exports to Vietnam reached 24.5 billion SGD, up 17.7%, while imports from Vietnam climbed sharply to 11.5 billion SGD, a year-on-year increase of 47.2%. Domestically produced exports accounted for 6.6 billion SGD, rising 4.8%, while re-exports surged 23.3% to 17.9 billion SGD.
In purely trade accounting terms, Singapore recorded a trade surplus of about 13 billion SGD with Vietnam, similar to the level seen a year earlier. However, as re-exports made up more than 73% of Singapore’s exports to Vietnam, when considering only goods of Singaporean and Vietnamese origin, Vietnam posted a trade surplus of 4.88 billion SGD during the period.
Machinery and electrical equipment and parts (HS 85), along with mineral fuels, oils and related products (HS 27), remained Singapore’s two largest export groups to Vietnam, with a combined value of 16.5 billion SGD, accounting for 67.5% of total exports. On the import side, machinery and electrical equipment (HS 85) also led Singapore’s imports from Vietnam, reaching nearly 5.9 billion SGD, more than doubling year-on-year.
According to Vietnam’s Trade Counsellor in Singapore Cao Xuan Thang, while Singapore’s economic growth in 2026 may slow compared to 2025, maintaining product quality, upgrading design and packaging, applying technology to enhance efficiency, and safeguarding brand reputation will be key for Vietnamese businesses to sustain export growth in this important trans-shipment market./.
