Germany is one of Vietnam's most important trade partners in the European Union (EU) and has returned to its position as Vietnam's largest trade partner in Europe in the first months of 2025.

The Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), which took effect in August 2020, has been creating significant positive impacts on Vietnam - Germany trade relations:

The EU eliminated import duties on 85.6% of tariff lines as soon as the Agreement came into effect, and will account for up to 99.7% of Vietnam's export turnover to the EU after 7 years. This helps Vietnamese goods have a competitive advantage in price in the German market.

Vietnam also pledged to eliminate import tariffs on a large number of tariff lines from the EU, creating favorable conditions for German goods to enter Vietnam.

EVFTA also brings wide-open opportunities for businesses of the two countries, especially for Vietnamese agricultural, aquatic and textile products to access the German market more easily.

Since the EVFTA took effect in 2020, the total import-export turnover between Vietnam and Germany has increased sharply and reached a peak of nearly 12.6 billion USD in 2022, then decreased slightly in 2023 due to the impact of the global economy, but in 2024 it recovered slightly and reached over 11.7 billion USD.

Vietnam's exports to the German market grew strongly in the period from 2020 to 2022, due to the strong impact of EVFTA, then decreased slightly in 2023 due to the influence of global economic factors, and recovered slightly in 2024. In the period from 2020-2024, Vietnam's exports to the German market peaked in 2022 with a turnover of nearly 9 billion USD.

Meanwhile, Vietnam's imports from Germany in the period from 2020-2024 were stable and less volatile than exports. The import turnover value was always lower than the export turnover, helping Vietnam maintain a trade surplus with the German market.

In the 2020-2024 period, the highest trade surplus that Vietnam achieved with the German market was recorded in 2022 with nearly 5.4 billion USD. In 2023, Vietnam's trade surplus with the German market decreased sharply due to a decline in exports, although imports will not increase significantly, but will then recover and reach nearly 4.2 billion USD in 2024.

According to statistics from the Vietnam Customs Department, in the first 8 months of 2025, the two-way trade between Vietnam and Germany reached over 8.8 billion USD, of which Vietnam's exports to Germany will reach 6.2 billion USD, and Vietnam's imports of goods from Germany reached over 2.6 billion USD. Vietnam achieved a trade surplus of nearly 3.59 billion USD with the German market in the first 8 months of 2025.

In August of 2025 alone, the two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Germany reached 1.06 billion USD, of which Vietnam's exports to the German market reached nearly 707 million USD, while Vietnam's imports from the German market reached over 355 million USD, with a trade surplus of nearly 352 million USD.