After enjoying trade surpluses for the past consecutive 23 months, Vietnam slipped into an import surplus in May 2024, sparking concerns about the health of the economy, but experts say it is not really a worrying sign.

Vietnam's good imports and exports in 2023 have fallen short of the 700-billion-USD mark achieved in the previous year, estimating at 683 billion USD, down 6.6% year on year.

FTAs with new markets such as Israel and the UAE will create more opportunities to promote trade and investment, especially exports, of Vietnam in 2024

Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus for the eighth consecutive year with US$26 billion over the past 11 months, three times higher than the figure recorded last year.

The Vietnamese economy saw $10.8 billion from the export of timber and wood products in the first 10 months of 2023, down nearly 20 per cent on-year.

As of September, there have been six key Vietnamese commodities with export value enduring a decrease of at least US$1 billion each, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Textile, footwear, and wooden furniture businesses moaned about a sharp fall in export orders.

The US is Vietnam’s biggest export market, accounting for about one-quarter of its total exports, but its exports to the market fell by more than 20 per cent yoy in the first seven months.

Although difficulties remained, enterprises expect to see slight improvements in orders in the coming months, pinning hopes on easing inflationary pressure for a better year in 2024.

Dwindling demands in the global market are posing challenges for Vietnam to meet its considerable export target for this year.

Vietnam’s export landscape continues to regain momentum on account of gradually recovering demands, but risks are still looming.

Vietnam’s export sector has encountered a significant slowdown in 2023, with both exports and imports falling at a double-digit rate in January-July, reported the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Online exports are seen as a “launchpad” that helps businesses maintain sustainable revenue and increase exports in the context of rising inflation and consumers tightening their spending, according to insiders.

Vietnam will be a key driver of global trade growth, with its exports projected to reach US$618 billion by 2030, an annual growth rate of 7 per cent, outpacing the global average of 5 per cent by a significant 2 percentage points.

Vietnam’s import-export value in the first five months of this year was estimated at 262.54 billion USD, down 14.7% year-on-year, with a trade surplus of 9.8 billion USD, the General Statistics Office (GSO) announced on May 29.

Last year over 3.5 billion USD was spent importing CBU (completely built unit) mobile phones in Vietnam, with 1.6 billion USD for iPhones alone.

Vietnam produced a trade surplus of US$6.35 billion in the first four months of the year, announced the General Statistics Office (GSO) on April 29.

Hanoi was named among the country’s top 10 localities in exports in 2022 in the latest annual report on imports and exports unveiled by the Ministry of Industry and Trae (MoIT) on April 27.

The MXV Index has at times witnessed a sharp fall of 10 percent compared with late last year.