Vietnam earned an estimated trade surplus of US$600 million in November and consequently an all-time high surplus of US$20.1 billion in the January–November period, the General Statistics Office (GSO) has said in a monthly report.

On breaking down, the domestic-invested sector is estimated to post a trade deficit of US$12.43 billion in the eleven-month period while foreign-invested firms have recorded a surplus of US$32.53 billion.

Data: GSO. Chart: Hai Yen.

The export value of the domestic-invested sector is expected to expand 1.6% year-on-year to US$73 billion during the period, accounting for 28.7% of the country's exports. Meanwhile, FDI firms have reaped US$181.6 billion from overseas shipments, up 6.9% and accounting for 71.3% of the total.

In November, Vietnam has exported goods worth an estimated US$24.8 billion, down 9% inter-monthly but up 8.8% year-on-year, while imports are estimated to decline by 0.5% month-on-month and increase by 13.4% year-on-year to US$24.2 billion.

Overall, Vietnam's trade turnover is likely to reach US$489.1 billion in the January – November period, representing an increase of 3.5% year-on-year. Of the total, exports could amount to US$254.6 billion, up 5.3% year-on-year, and imports are estimated at US$234.5 billion, up 1.5%.

In the first eleven months of 2020, Vietnam had 31 export items earning more than US$1 billion each, accounting for 92% of total exports, and six with over US$10 billion, or 64.3%. On the other hand, 34 items have import value of over US$1 billion, or 89.4% of total.

Among Vietnam’s key export staples, phones and parts are predicted to gross the largest export turnover during the January-November period with US$46.9 billion, down 3.4% year-on-year and accounting for 18.4% of Vietnam’s total exports.

In addition, electronic products, computers and components have fetched an estimated US$40.2 billion, up 24.3% year-on-year; followed by garments (US$26.7 billion and down10.5%); equipment and parts (US$23.9 billion and up 44.5%); footwear (US$14.9 billion and down 9.8%); wood and wooden products (US$10.9 billion and up 14.1%); transportation vehicles (US$8.1 billion and up 4.1%); seafood (US$7.7 billion and down 0.9%), among others.

In the January–November period, the US remained Vietnam's biggest export market, spending US$69.9 billion on Vietnamese goods, up 25.7% year-on-year, followed by China (US$43.1 billion, up 16%), and the EU (US$32.2 billion, down 2.4%).

Meanwhile, China continued to be Vietnam's largest supplier, selling US$73.9 billion worth of goods to Vietnam, up 7.9% year-on-year. 

South Korea claimed the second place by exporting US$42 billion worth of goods to Vietnam, down 2.9% year-on-year, followed by ASEAN countries with US$27.3 billion, down 6.9%.