According to data from the General Bureau of Statistics of Vietnam, Vietnam’s import value in March 2020 was approximately US$19 billion, an increase of 2.3% from February, but a decrease of 10.1% from the same period last year. In the first quarter of 2020, Vietnam’s import value was approximately US$56.26 billion, a decrease of 1.9% compared with the same period last year; of which, the import value of Vietnamese-funded enterprises was approximately US$23.08 billion, a decrease of 3.4%, and the import value of foreign-invested enterprises was approximately US$33.18 billion, a decrease of 0.8%. In the first quarter of 2020, 14 imported products exceeded US$1 billion, accounting for 72.9% of total imports, including: electronic products, computers and their parts, with an import value of US$13.2 billion, an increase of 11.8%; machinery and equipment and their parts, with an import value of US$7.8 billion. U.S. dollars, a decrease of 8.6%; various telephones and their parts are 3.2 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 14.1%;cloth is 2.4 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of 17.7%;plastics are 2 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of 6.1%; steel is 1.9 billion U.S. dollars , a decrease of 16%; plastic products 1.6 billion US dollars, an increase of 8.1%; crude oil 1.5 billion US dollars, an increase of 67.9%; automobiles 1.4 billion US dollars, a decrease of 24.4%; general metals 1.4 billion US dollars, a decrease of 7.9%; chemicals 1.3 billion US dollars, an increase 11.7%; chemical raw materials were US$1.2 billion, a decrease of 0.9%; textile garments, footwear and other raw ingredients were US$1.1 billion, a decrease of 14.5%; oil products were US$1.02 billion, a decrease of 17.6%.
Regarding the source of imports, China is still Vietnam’s largest source of imports, with an import value of US$13.3 billion, a decrease of 18% from the same period last year; followed by South Korea with US$11.7 billion, an increase 2.4%; ASEAN is US$7.2 billion, a decrease of 8.3%; Japan is US$4.9 billion, an increase of 15.8%; the European Union is US$3.4 billion, an increase of 5.2%; the United States is US$3.4 billion, an increase of 13%.
The trade surplus in the first quarter of 2020 was approximately US$2.8 billion, of which Vietnamese-funded enterprises had a deficit of US$4.4 billion, and foreign-invested enterprises (including crude oil) had a deficit of US$7.2 billion.
