Vietnam earned an estimated trade surplus of US$3.5 billion in September and reached a record surplus of US$16.99 billion in the January–September period, compared to a US$7.27 billion surplus recorded in the same period last year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) has said in a monthly report.

Vietnam's trade surplus in September is estimated at US$3.5 billion.

On breaking down, the domestic-invested sector is estimated to post a trade deficit of US$10.52 billion in the nine-month period while foreign-invested firms have recorded a surplus of US$27.51 billion.

The domestic-invested sector continues to be a spotlight in Vietnam's trade as the sector’s exports are estimated to expand 20.2% year-on-year to US$71.83 billion during the period, accounting for 35.4% of the country's export turnover. Meanwhile, FDI firms have reaped US$131.03 billion from overseas shipments, down 2.9% and accounting for 64.6% of the total.

In September, Vietnam has exported goods worth an estimated US$27.5 billion, down 0.7% inter-monthly, while imports are estimated to increase by 5.6% to US$24 billion.

Overall, Vietnam's trade turnover is likely to have increased 1.8% year-on-year to reach US$388.73 billion in the January – September period, of which its export value could amount to US$202.86 billion, up 4.2% year-on-year, and imports are estimated at US$185.87 billion, down 0.8%.

In the first nine months of 2020, Vietnam had 30 export items earning turnover of US$1 billion each, accounting for 91.3% of total exports, and five with over US$10 billion, or 59.8%.