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| Apparel is a major contributor to Vietnam's exports__Photo: VNA |
Vietnam’s total trade hit USD 930.05 billion in 2025, an 18.2 percent jump from a year earlier, with a trade surplus of USD 20.03 billion, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).
Addressing a press conference in Hanoi on January 5 to release fourth-quarter and full-year economic data, NSO Director General Nguyen Thi Huong said the domestic sector ran a USD 29.43 billion trade deficit, while the foreign-invested sector, including crude oil, recorded a surplus of USD 49.46 billion.
December exports hit USD 44.03 billion, up 12.6 percent from November. Domestic firms contributed USD 9.7 billion, a 17.9 percent gain, while foreign-invested companies drove the bulk with USD 34.33 billion, up 11.2 percent.
Fourth-quarter exports totaled USD 126.3 billion, leaping 20 percent year-on-year though dipping 1.7 percent sequentially. Full-year exports rose 17 percent to USD 475.04 billion, with domestic players shipping USD 107.95 billion, down 6.1 percent and accounting for only 22.7 percent of the total, versus USD 367.09 billion from foreign-invested firms, up 26.1 percent and claiming 77.3 percent.
The GSO said 36 product categories topped USD 1 billion in export revenue, or 94 percent of total exports. Eight exceeded USD 10 billion, making up 70.2 percent.
Processed industrial products led with USD 421.47 billion, or 88.7 percent of exports. Agriculture and forestry brought in USD 39.46 billion (8.3 percent), seafood USD 11.29 billion (2.4 percent), and fuels and minerals USD 2.83 billion (0.6 percent).
On the import side, December purchases jumped 17.6 percent month-on-month to USD 44.69 billion. Domestic buyers spent USD 14.57 billion (up 28.5 percent), while the foreign-invested sector imported USD 30.11 billion (up 13 percent). Year-on-year, December imports exploded 27.7 percent, powered by a 43.4 percent spike in foreign-invested demand.
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| Illustrative image__Photo: VNA |
Fourth-quarter imports totaled USD 123.1 billion, up 21.3 percent annually and 2.9 percent quarterly. Annual imports grew 19.4 percent to USD 455.01 billion, with domestic firms importing USD 137.38 billion, down 2 percent, and foreign entities USD 317.63 billion, up 31.9 percent.
In 2025, 47 imported items topped USD 1 billion, accounting for 93.8 percent of the total, including nine above USD 10 billion.
Production inputs overwhelmed the import basket at USD 426.11 billion (93.6 percent). Machinery, equipment, and spare parts accounted for 52.7 percent of that segment, raw materials and fuels 40.9 percent, while consumer goods trailed at just USD 28.9 billion (6.4 percent).
The US solidified its position as Vietnam’s biggest export market with USD 153.2 billion in purchases, while China remained the largest supplier at USD 186 billion.
Vietnam ran a 133.9 billion surplus with the US, up 28.2 percent, and USD 38.6 billion with the European Union, up 10.1 percent. The surplus with Japan narrowed sharply by 30.1 percent to USD 2.1 billion. Deficits ballooned with China to USD 115.6 billion, up 39.6 percent; the Republic of Korea USD 31.6 billion, up 4.3 percent; and ASEAN USD 14.2 billion, up 42.4 percent.- (VNA/VLLF)
