In the first four months of the year, the total import-export turnover reached 276.89 billion USD, an increase of 15.7% compared to the same period in 2024. Exports continue to be a bright spot.
Exports Maintain Growth Momentum
According to the report on the socio-economic situation for April and the first four months of 2025, published by the General Statistics Office – Ministry of Finance on the morning of May 6, in April, the total export-import turnover of Vietnam reached 74.32 billion USD, a slight decrease of 1.4% compared to the previous month, but a strong increase of 21.3% compared to the same period last year.
For the first four months, the total turnover reached 276.89 billion USD, an increase of 15.7% compared to the same period in 2024. This result reflects the positive and sustainable recovery of international trade, amid signs of growth returning in many large markets.
Exports continue to be the bright spot in the trade picture. Specifically, in April, export turnover reached 37.45 billion USD, down 2.8% from March, mainly due to a 6% decrease in the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector.
However, the domestic economic sector saw an impressive growth of 5.2%, reaching 11.66 billion USD. Compared to the same period last year, total export turnover increased by 19.8%, with the domestic sector growing by 25.7%, and the FDI sector growing by 17.2%.
Export-Import Turnover for the First Four Months of 2025 (Source: Statistics Office, Ministry of Finance)
Cumulatively, for the first four months of the year, total export turnover reached 140.34 billion USD, up 13%. The domestic economic sector contributed 40.74 billion USD, a 18.1% increase, accounting for 29% of the total turnover. Meanwhile, the FDI sector reached 99.6 billion USD, a 11% increase, accounting for 71%.
Notably, 22 items achieved export turnover of over 1 billion USD, with 7 items surpassing the 5 billion USD mark, reflecting that the export structure is increasingly focused on key industries with high-value added content.
By structure, processed industrial goods continue to dominate, with turnover of 123.71 billion USD (88.2%), followed by agricultural and forestry products with 12.39 billion USD (8.8%), seafood with 3.21 billion USD (2.3%), and fuel and minerals with 1.03 billion USD (0.7%). This indicates that Vietnam is maintaining a deep processing-based export orientation, while still ensuring a position for agricultural and seafood products in the global value chain.
Trade Balance Continues to Record a Reasonable Surplus
In April 2025, the import turnover of goods reached 36.87 billion USD, almost the same as March (36.88 billion USD). The domestic economic sector increased slightly by 3.6%, reaching 14.48 billion USD, while the FDI sector decreased by 2.2%, reaching 22.39 billion USD. Compared to the same period in 2024, imports in April increased sharply by 22.9%, with the domestic sector rising by 26% and the FDI sector increasing by 21%.
For the first four months of the year, total import turnover reached 136.55 billion USD, up 18.6% compared to the same period last year. The domestic sector imported 51.26 billion USD (up 21.1%), while the FDI sector imported 85.29 billion USD (up 17.1%). 25 items had import values exceeding 1 billion USD, with 2 items surpassing the 5 billion USD mark, showing a clear recovery in domestic production and consumption demand.
In terms of import structure, the group of production materials continued to dominate, with a total turnover of 128.17 billion USD, accounting for 93.9% of total imports. Among them, machinery, equipment, and spare parts accounted for 50.6%; raw materials accounted for 43.3%. Consumer goods reached 8.38 billion USD, accounting for a modest 6.1%, in line with the trend of prioritizing imports for production rather than consumption.
The trade balance continues to maintain a surplus, though it has narrowed compared to the same period last year. According to preliminary data, in March, the trade surplus was 1.63 billion USD, in Q1, the surplus was 3.21 billion USD, and in April, the surplus was 0.58 billion USD, bringing the total surplus for the first four months to 3.79 billion USD (compared to a surplus of 9.06 billion USD in the same period of 2024).
Exports and Imports for the First Four Months of 2025 reached nearly 277 billion USD. (Photo: MoIT)
Analysis by Region: The domestic economic sector continued to experience a trade deficit of 10.52 billion USD, while the FDI sector recorded a strong surplus of 14.31 billion USD, reinforcing the role of foreign-invested enterprises in the national trade balance.
Regarding Markets: The United States remains the largest export partner with a turnover of 43.4 billion USD in the first four months, and it is also the largest surplus market for Vietnam, with a surplus of up to 37.7 billion USD (an increase of 24.9%).
Next, the trade surplus with the EU reached 13.4 billion USD (up 16.8%), with Japan reaching 0.7 billion USD (doubling). On the contrary, China is Vietnam’s largest import market, with an import turnover of 53.2 billion USD and a very large trade deficit of 35.1 billion USD (up 44.2%). Vietnam also had a trade deficit of 9.6 billion USD with South Korea (up 9.5%) and 5.4 billion USD with ASEAN (up 83.1%).
The group of processed industrial goods continues to dominate with a turnover of 123.71 billion USD (88.2%), followed by agricultural and forestry products with 12.39 billion USD (8.8%), seafood with 3.21 billion USD (2.3%), and fuel and minerals with 1.03 billion USD (0.7%). This shows that Vietnam is maintaining its export orientation based on deep processing industries, while also ensuring a place for agricultural and seafood products in the global value chain.
Source: Congthuong.vn