The declines were attributed to decreases in export revenue of most of the country's key export items including cell phones and accessories, garment textile, computers, electronic products and accessories, footwear, machinery, spare parts and tools, seafood, wood and wood products among others.
Specifically, Vietnam is estimated to earn 2.5 billion dollars from exports of cell phones and accessories in the first month, down 7.1 percent from December 2016. Garment and textile exports are forecast to rake in 2.05 billion dollars, down 10.8 percent month-on-month.
Exports of computers, electronic products and accessories are estimated at 1.6 billion dollars in January, down 14.1 percent, while that of footwear stands at 1.2 billion dollars, down 10.2 percent from the previous month.
At the same time, Vietnamese export revenues of fishery and forestry items hit 550 million dollars and 620 million dollars, posting respective month-on-month decreases of 16.2 percent and 17.3 percent.
Meanwhile, in the first month of 2017, the country is likely to spend 14.7 billion dollars on imports, down 14 percent from the previous month, said Vietnam Customs.