Vietnam reported an estimated trade surplus of US$100 million in November, resulting in a trade surplus of US$9.1 billion in the first eleven months of this year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) has said in a monthly report.

Data: GSO. Chart: Ngoc Thuy.

On breaking down, the domestic sector reported a trade deficit of US$23.5 billion in the eleven-month period while foreign-invested firms posted a trade surplus of US$32.6 billion. The former’s exports expanded 18.1% to US$74.72 billion during the period, accounting for 31% of total exports. Meanwhile, FDI firms reaped US$166.7 billion from overseas shipments, up 3.8% and accounting for 69% of the total (down 2.7 percentage points year-on-year).

In November, Vietnam exported goods worth US$22.6 billion, down 6.7% inter-monthly, while imports reached US$22.5 billion, up 0.6%.

Overall, Vietnam's trade turnover reached US$473.73 billion in the January – November period, of which its export value amounted to US241.42 billion, up 7.8% year-on-year, and imports totaled US$232.31 billion, up 7.4%.

According to the report, Vietnam's export staples during the January - November period were electronic products, computers and components with US$32.4 billion, up 19.4% year-on-year; garment with US$29.9 billion, up 7.8%; footwear with US$16.5 billion, up 12.5%; equipment, parts with US$16.5 billion, up 9.8%; fisheries with US$7.8 billion, down 2.3%; vegetables with US$3.4 billion, down 2.4%. 

Data: GSO. Chart: Ngoc Thuy.

Phones and parts recorded the largest export turnover of US$48.7 billion, accounting for 20.2% of total exports and up 5.4% year-on-year. 

In the January – November period, the US remained Vietnam's biggest export market, spending US$55.6 billion on Vietnamese goods, up 27.9% year-on-year, followed by the European Union with US$38 billion, down 2.3%, and China with US$37.4 billion, down 0.6%. 

Meanwhile, China remained Vietnam's largest supplier, selling S$68.7 billion worth of goods to Vietnam, a 15.2% climb year-on-year. 

South Korea claimed the second place by exporting US$43.6 billion worth of goods to Vietnam, remaining unchanged year-on-year, followed by ASEAN with US$29.6 billion, up 1.7%.