VOV.VN - Vietnam racked up a trade surplus of US$15.23 billion during the initial seven months of the year compared to US$1.34 billion recorded in the same period from last year, according to information given by the General Statistics Office (GSO).

July alone witnessed the total import and export turnover of goods stand at an estimated US$57.21 billion, up 2.5% over the previous month, but down 6.7% over the same period from last year.

Throughout the seven-month period, the total import and export turnover of goods reached US$374.23 billion, down 13.9% on-year, of which exports decreased by 10.6% to US$194.73 billion and imports fell by 17.1%.

According to the GSO’s data, the domestic economic sector raked in US$51.5 billion, representing a drop of 10.2% and accounting for 26.4% of total export turnover. Elsewhere, the FDI sector earned a turnover of US$143.23 billion, representing a fall of 10.8% and accounting for 73.6% of total export turnover.

The reviewed period saw 30 items with export turnover reaching over US$1 billion, duly accounting for 91.6% of total export turnover, of which five export items have turnover of over US$10 billion, making up 57.6%.

Moreover, the country’s import turnover of goods was estimated to be at US$179.5 billion in seven months, down 17.1% on-year, as the domestic economic sector fetched a turnover of US$64.1 billion, down 16.1%, and the FDI sector grossed US$115.4 billion, down 17.7%.

With the imports falling more sharply compared to exports, the national economy continued to rack up a trade surplus of US$15.25 billion, of which the domestic economic sector endured a trade deficit of US$12.58 billion, whilst the FDI sector enjoyed a trade surplus of US$27.81 billion.

A large trade surplus has therefore raised concerns that industrial production and exports will continue to face hurdles over the coming time.

In fact, the Vietnamese economy depends heavily on imported raw materials, although the decrease in imports highlights that enterprises are still short of orders, meaning there is no need to import input materials.

In the reviewed period, the nation’s trade surplus with the United States was estimated to be at US$44.3 billion, down 24.1% on-year, while the country’s trade surplus to the EU and Japan was estimated to be at US$16.4 billion and US$0.9 billion, respectively.

In contrast, the country’s trade deficit with China, the Republic of Korea, and ASEAN dropped by 35.2%, 35.1%, and 35.3% to US$27 billion, US%15.5 billion, and US$5 million, respectively.