According to the calculations from the preliminary statistics of the General Department of Customs, in the first 11 months of 2019, the two-way import-export turnover between Vietnam and Australia reached 7.36 billion USD, up by 5.2 per cent over the same period of 2018. In particular, Vietnam's merchandise exports to Australia reached 3.22 billion USD, down by 11.5 per cent; while the country’s imports of goods from Australia reached 4.14 billion USD, up strongly by 23.3 per cent.

Therefore, Vietnam had a trade deficit of 914.31 million USD in trade exchange with Australia in the first 11 months of 2019, while in the first 11 months of 2018, Vietnam had a trade surplus of 285.49 million USD.

Of the 23 major import items from the Australian market in the first 11 months of 2019, coal was the largest import group, with the import value of 1.45 billion USD, up by 96.8 per cent over the same period last year; accounting for 35 per cent of total imports of goods from this market. The next group was ore and mineral products with the import value of 516.72 million USD, accounting for 12.5 per cent of the total, rising by 74 per cent; ordinary metal products ranked third in import value, with 465.53 million USD (accounting for 11.3 per cent of the total, down by 10.8 per cent); followed by wheat with 231.27 million USD (accounting for 5.6 per cent); and iron and steel scraps with 149.57 million USD (accounting for 3.6 per cent).

The country’s imports of goods from Australia in the first 11 months of 2019 increased sharply over the same period due to the increase in imports of key commodities, contributing to the increase of overall import turnover. Most notably, iron and steel imports from the Australian market had the strongest increase of 165.9 per cent over the same period last year, reaching 50.74 million USD. Besides, the imports of wood and wood products also increased sharply over 108 per cent, reaching 9.59 million USD; milk and milk products increased by 66.2 per cent, reaching 45.32 million USD; foodstuff increased by 63.7 per cent in value, reaching 11.82 million USD.

In contrast, the groups of imported goods which have sharply declined in value include: cotton of all kinds (down by 72.9 per cent, reaching USD 85.12 million); gas (down by 43.2 per cent, reaching 21.18 million USD).