China is the largest exporter of goods to Vietnam in January when the country reports a trade deficit of 100 million USD. (Photo: ndh.vn)

The GSO said the country’s exports reached 19 billion USD in January, a year-on-year drop of 15.8 percent while its imports hit 19.1 billion USD, a decrease of 14.4 percent.

The domestic sector reported an estimated trade deficit of 2.4 billion USD while the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector posted a trade surplus of 2.3 billion USD.

Goods that still witnessed increases included electronics, computers and components (2.6 billion USD, up 5.6 percent), and timber and wooden products (1 billion USD, up 1.4 percent).

Meanwhile, the exports of textiles and garments dropped by 21 percent to 2.6 billion USD, phones and their parts also worth 2.6 billion USD, down 22.4 percent; and footwear worth 1.6 billion USD, down 9.7 percent.

This month, importers spent 3.7 billion USD on electronics, computers and parts, down 8.5 percent from last January. They also spent 3.2 billion USD on machinery, equipment and components and 1.1 billion USD on phones and parts, as much as the reduction of 6.8 percent and down 9.5 percent respectively from last January.

Dropping 7.6 percent in the import from Vietnam in January, the US still remained the country’s largest export market spending 4.8 billion USD. Following were China with 3.7 billion USD, up 32.8 percent and the European Union with 2.6 billion USD, down 30.8 percent.

Also declining 7.1 percent in exports to Vietnam, China was the largest supplier with 6.2 billion USD of goods in January. Followers were the Republic of Korea with 3.2 billion USD and ASEAN with a combined value of 2.4 billion USD as much as the reduction of 22.8 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively compared to last January.

Experts said import and export activities were often influenced by the long holidays, especially the Lunar New Year that always sees a sharp rise in consumer goods imports, leading to a trade deficit./. VNA

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