The latest preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs show that the total import and export value of Vietnam’s goods in the period from February 2, 2023 (from February 16 to February 28, 2023) reached 23.16 billion USD, down from 10 .3% corresponds (equivalent to USD 2.66 billion) compared to the first half of February 2023.

The results achieved in the second half of February 2023 pushed the country’s total import-export value down to US$95.83 billion in the first two months of 2023, down 13.4% (equivalent to US$14.83 billion US dollars) compared to the same period in 2022.

The total import-export value of foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises reached USD 68.2 billion, down 11.8% (equivalent to USD 9.15 billion); The import-export value of domestic enterprises was US$27.62 billion, down 17.1% (equivalent to US$5.68 billion) from the same period last year.

In terms of exports in particular, they reached USD 12.47 billion in February 2, 2023, down 7.2% (equivalent to USD 972 million) compared to the first period in February 2023.

Some commodity groups with export value decreased as of February 2, 2023 compared to February 1, 2023, including: phones of all types and components decreased by US$492 million (equivalent to 21%); Computers, electronic products and components decreased by USD 166 million (equivalent to 8.1%); Transportation and parts decreased by $139 million (equivalent to 23%).

Thus, Vietnam’s total export value reached USD 49.64 billion in the first two months of 2023, down 10% (equivalent to USD 5.55 billion) from the same period in 2022.

Statistics from the General Department of Customs also show that the export value of goods by FDI companies reached US$9.23 billion on February 2, 2023, down 9% (equivalent to US$914 million) compared to the previous one The period corresponds to the period from February 1, 2023, which increased the total export value of goods in the first two months of 2023 of this group of companies to USD 37.34 billion, down 7.3% (equivalent to USD 2.93 billion USD) in the same period last year and accounted for 75.2% of the country’s total export value.

From the opposite direction, the value of imported goods from Vietnam reached US$10.69 billion in the second half of February 2023, down 13.7% (equivalent to US$1.69 billion) compared to the year-on-year performance in the first half of February 2023 is equivalent to.

The import value of goods in the February 2nd period, 2023 compared to the previous period 1 decreased mainly in some of the following commodity groups: Computers, electronic products and components decreased by USD 651 million (decreased 19% and 9% respectively); Machinery, equipment, tools and parts decreased by US$188 million (equivalent to 12.3%); Gasoline and Oil of All Kinds fell $143 million (a decrease of 32.8%)…

Thus, the total import value of the whole country reached USD 46.2 billion in the first two months of 2023, down 16.7% (equivalent to USD 9.28 billion) compared to the same period in 2022.

The goods import value of FDI companies reached US$7.02 billion during this period, down 14.3% (equivalent to US$1.17 billion) from the first period in February 2023. In the first two months of 2023, the total import value of this group of companies reached US$30.87 billion, down 16.8% (equivalent to US$6.2 billion) compared to the same period last year, accounting for 66.8% of the total import value of the country.

With the above results, the goods trade balance had a surplus of USD 1.78 billion in the February 2nd period, 2023. In general, the goods trade balance had a surplus of $3.44 billion in the first 2 months of 2023.

Given that Vietnam’s economy is suffering from many internal and external influences, the ongoing trade surplus bodes well. This not only shows Vietnam’s position in trade relations with foreign countries, but is also one of the results and one of the factors that set the stage for the scale and speed of economic growth.

However, the trade surplus in the first 2 months of 2023 also causes many concerns as the trade surplus is not due to an increase in exports, but on the contrary a 10% decrease. Notably, most of Vietnam’s major export groups such as textiles and clothing fell 19.6%; Computers, electronic products and components also recorded a decline of 10.9%; Phones and components declined 5.2% over the same period in 2022.

In addition, the trade surplus was also caused by a stronger fall in imports than exports (-16.7% versus -10%). The fall in imports will affect the amount of equipment and materials shipped for domestic production, and this is one of the factors leading the industrial production index to drop by 6.3 in the first two months of 2023 compared to the same period last year % decreases in 2022 (up 5.6% over the same period)

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, after the cycle of previous years, the trade deficit usually arises in the first few months of the year as companies encourage the import of raw materials for export production. But this year, the situation regarding the import of raw materials has eased somewhat, since there were no orders from the main markets. This also shows that import and export activities are likely to remain difficult in the coming months.