According to the General Statistics Office – Ministry of Planning and Investment, in the first quarter of January 2024 (from 01/01 to 15/01/2024), the total import and export turnover of goods reached 29.78 billion USD, an increase of 5.4% compared to the same period last year. Specifically, exports increased by 4.1% and imports increased by 6.8%; the trade balance of goods exports was a surplus of 0.38 billion USD.
In December 2023, the preliminary export turnover of goods reached 31.47 billion USD, which is 1.45 billion USD lower than the estimated figure. As of January 15, 2024, the preliminary export turnover of goods reached 15.08 billion USD, an increase of 4.1% compared to the same period last year. In which, the domestic economic sector reached 4.02 billion USD, an increase of 10.4% and accounted for 26.7% of the total export turnover; the area with foreign investment (including crude oil) reached 11.06 billion USD, an increase of 1.9% and accounted for 73.3%.
As of January 15, 2024, there were 4 commodity groups with export turnover over 1 billion USD, accounting for 53.2% of the total export turnover.
Regarding the structure of export goods groups as of January 15, 2024, the group of fuel and raw minerals reached 108 million USD, accounting for 0.7%; the group of processing and manufacturing industry reached 13.35 billion USD, accounting for 88.5%; the group of agricultural and forestry products reached 1.3 billion USD, accounting for 8.7%; the group of aquatic products reached 318 million USD, accounting for 2.1%.
Regarding the import of goods, the General Statistics Office stated that in December 2023, the preliminary import turnover of goods reached 29.4 billion USD, which is 1.23 billion USD lower than the estimated figure.
As of January 15, 2024, the preliminary import turnover of goods reached 14.7 billion USD, an increase of 6.8% compared to the same period last year. In which, the domestic economic sector reached 5.22 billion USD, an increase of 19.1% and accounted for 35.5% of the total import turnover; the area with foreign investment reached 9.48 billion USD, an increase of 1.1% and accounted for 64.5%. As of January 15, 2024, there were 2 commodity groups with import turnover over 1 billion USD, accounting for 42.1% of the total import turnover.
Regarding the structure of import goods groups as of January 15, 2024, the group of production materials reached 13.83 billion USD, accounting for 94.1%, of which the group of machinery, equipment, and spare parts accounted for 48.6%; the group of raw materials accounted for 45.5%. The group of consumer goods reached 0.87 billion USD, accounting for 5.9%.
The trade balance of goods in the first quarter of January was a surplus of 0.38 billion USD (compared to a surplus of 0.73 billion USD in the same period last year). In which, the domestic economic sector had a trade deficit of 1.19 billion USD; the area with foreign investment (including crude oil) had a trade surplus of 1.57 billion USD.
