Xifres de comerç exterior de Vietnam

Foreign Trade in Figures

Vietnam is one of the most open economies to international trade in Asia. Vietnamese trade represented 208% of GDP in 2020, down 3% from the previous year (World Bank, 2022). Vietnam exports transmission and electronic apparatus (22% of all exports in 2020), electronic integrated circuits and microassemblies, footwear, technology products and automatic data processing machines. Imports include electronic integrated circuits and microassemblies (15% of all imports in 2020), electronic apparatus and semiconductors (Comtrade, 2021).

The main trading partners are the U.S. (27.4% of all exports in 2020), China, Japan and South Korea. Its main providers are China (32.2% of all imports), South Korea, Japan and the United States. The Vietnamese economic model remains heavily dependent on foreign investment and exports, especially to the United States and China. In recent years, Vietnam has demonstrated strong commitment to trade liberalisation. It joined the WTO in 2007 and signed Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with the ASEAN countries and the United States. Vietnam also enjoys a cooperation agreement with the EU. A free trade agreement between both parties was ratified by the European Parliament in February 2020 and is expected to enter into force soon. A Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) - the world’s largest trade agreement - was signed by Vietnam in 2020, which includes 16 countries in total: Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand.

The value of exports of goods was estimated at 282.7 billion USD in 2020, up from 264.2 billion USD in 2019. The imports of goods amounted to 262.7 billion USD in 2020, up from 253.3 billion USD in 2019. The trade surplus reached 21.5 billion USD in 2019, against 16.5 billion in the previous year. Vietnam reported a 19% growth in exports in 2021, as it saw its trade surplus with the United States, its largest export market, widening to an all time high (81 billion USD from 63 billion USD in the previous year). Vietnam's total exports in 2021 came in at 336.31 billion USD, while its imports rose 26.5% to 332.23 billion USD, resulting in a trade surplus of 4.08 billion USD Vietnam Customs Department, 2022). Furthermore, since 2018, Vietnam is a net exporter of services. Vietnamese trade is characterised by some geographic inequality: the country shows a trade surplus with Western countries, but a series of deficits with some of its Asian neighbours. To achieve further progress, the country must continue to increase the value of exports and achieve product diversification.