Vietnam reported an estimated trade deficit of US$1.3 billion in May, leading to a deficit of US$548 million in the five months period while the country had an accumulative surplus of US$752 million one month earlier, the General Statistics Office (GSO) has said in a monthly report.

On breaking down, the domestic sector reported a trade deficit of US$13.28 billion in the period, while foreign-invested firms posted a positive trade balance of US$12.73 billion.

In May, Vietnam exported goods worth US$21.5 billion, up 5.2% month-on-month, while imports reached US$22.80 billion, up 8.6%.

Overall, Vietnam’s trade turnover reached US$202.02 billion in the first five months of 2019, of which its export value amounted to US$100.74 billion, up 6.7% year-on-year, and imports totaled US$101.28 billion, up 10.3%.

According to the report, Vietnam’s export staples during the January – May period remained electronic products, computers and components with US$12.3 billion, up 11.1% year-on-year; garment with US$12.1 billion, up 10.3%;  footwear with US$7.1 billion, up 14.3%; equipment, parts with US$6.8 billion, up 5.7%; wood and furniture with US$4 billion, up 18.3%; vehicles and parts with US$3.6 billion, up 4.7%.

Phones and parts recorded the highest export turnover of US$19.9 billion, accounting for 19.7% of total exports and up 3% year-on-year.

In the January – May period, the US remained Vietnam’s biggest export market, spending US$22.6 billion on Vietnamese goods, up 28% year-on-year, followed by the European Union with US$17.3 billion, up 1.9%, and China with US$13.4 billion, down 2.6%.

Meanwhile, China remained Vietnam’s largest import market between January and May with turnover of US$29.6 billion, an 18.9% climb year-on-year.

South Korea claimed the second place by exporting US$19.2 billion worth of goods to Vietnam, up 1.1% year-on-year, followed by ASEAN with US$13.9 billion, up 9.3%.