AsemconnectVietnam - Although only the first quarter of 2026 has passed, the statistics recently released by the Customs Department show a significant improvement in the country's import and export turnover.

The positive results are fairly consistent across product groups, markets, and key localities. This is encouraging given the unstable global geopolitical situation, which strongly impacts supply chains and commodity prices.
Exports increased thanks to technology
By the end of the first quarter, Vietnam’s total exports reached nearly US$123 billion, a 19% increase compared to the same period last year (corresponding to a US$19.7 billion increase in turnover). The most important contribution to the export growth in the past quarter cannot be overlooked, especially the electronics and high-tech sectors.
According to our reporter's observations, many product groups with large turnover achieved high growth rates, acting as a pillar for export activities.
First and foremost, we must mention the group of goods including computers, electronic products, and components. In the first quarter alone, this group achieved a turnover of US$30.7 billion, a 45.5% increase compared to the same period last year (equivalent to an increase of over US$9.6 billion).
Thus, the group of goods including computers, electronic products, and components alone contributed nearly half of the country's total export growth.
In addition, the high export growth in the first quarter was also thanks to other high-tech product groups such as telephones and components, with a turnover of US$16.7 billion, a 19.3% increase (over US$2.7 billion), contributing fourteen percentage points to the country's overall export growth.
Other groups with large turnovers and high growth include machinery, equipment, tools, and spare parts, with approximately US$15 billion, a 21.2% increase; seafood exports reached over $2.6 billion, an increase of 14.5%; fruits and vegetables reached $1.5 billion, an increase of 31.4%, etc.
In terms of markets, the United States continued to be the largest market for our country's exports. The exports to the US alone reached over $39 billion, an increase of 24.2% compared to the same period last year, accounting for 31.7% of the country's total export turnover.
In just the first quarter, six product groups exported to this market have already reached a turnover of $1 billion or more. Leading the way were computers, electronic products and components, reaching $12.4 billion; it was followed by machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts ($6.1 billion); textiles ($3.9 billion); telephones and components ($2.7 billion); footwear ($2.1 billion); and wood and wood products (nearly $2 billion).
In addition, other important export markets include China (US$16.8 billion); South Korea (US$8.1 billion); and Japan (over US$7 billion).
From a local perspective, Bac Ninh continued to maintain its number one position in exports. In the first quarter of the year, this locality achieved US$24 billion, accounting for 19.5% of the national export turnover and far surpassing other provinces and cities.
Of the 34 provinces and cities nationwide, by the end of the first quarter, 4 localities had export turnover of US$10 billion or more. Besides Bac Ninh, the remaining localities include: Ho Chi Minh City (US$22.4 billion); Phu Tho (US$11.6 billion); Hai Phong (US$11.3 billion).
Vietnam's exports are maintaining relatively strong growth; however, this activity still heavily depends on foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises.
According to Customs statistics, in the first quarter, FDI enterprises alone accounted for $98.2 billion, representing nearly 80% of the country's total import turnover. Notably, this proportion has increased sharply compared to 71.2% in the same period last year.
Imports increased by nearly $27 billion.
The imports in the first quarter also saw strong growth, even exceeding export growth. Specifically, import turnover reached $126.6 billion, an increase of 27% (equivalent to an increase of nearly $27 billion).
The strong import growth in the first quarter focused on raw materials, machinery, and equipment for serving export production (as mentioned in a recent article by the Economic and Financial Magazine).
In addition, the strong increase in imports may also be due to the instability of the global geopolitical situation, such as the Middle East conflict, causing businesses to import more raw materials than usual to ensure stable production over the long term.
On the other hand, the conflicts in the Middle East and trade wars and tariffs among major countries have also driven up the prices of raw materials. For example, the value of imported petroleum products in the first quarter averaged $869.4 USD/tonne, a 23% increase compared to the same period of 2025.
In terms of markets, China was the country from which Vietnam imports the most goods, with $50.1 billion USD, a 31.6% increase compared to the same period last year. Notably, this market alone accounts for 39.8% of the country's total import value, a proportion that also increased by more than one percentage point compared to the same period last year (38.2% in the same period of 2025).
Overall, all three markets from which Vietnam imported the most goods were from Asia. South Korea ranked second with $18.7 billion USD, and Taiwan (China) ranked third with $10.1 billion USD.
Similar to the Chinese market, the South Korean and Taiwanese (China) markets also experienced strong growth compared to the same period of 2025, with increases of 28% and 47.9% respectively.
At the local level, five provinces and cities achieved import turnover of 10 billion USD or more: Ho Chi Minh City (24.8 billion USD), Bac Ninh (24.1 billion USD), Phu Tho (14.7 billion USD), Hanoi (14 billion USD), and Hai Phong (10.3 billion USD).
Similarly, FDI enterprises also accounted for a large proportion of the country's total import turnover, reaching 91.4 billion USD, an increase of 45.3% (equivalent to an increase of 28.5 billion USD) compared to the same period last year, accounting for 72.2% of the country's total import turnover.
Overall, in the first quarter, the country's import and export turnover reached 249.5 billion USD, an increase of 23% compared to the same period last year. If the double-digit growth rate of the first quarter is maintained, in 2026, the country's import and export turnover will reach a new record of over 1,000 billion USD.
CK
Source: VITIC/ tapchikinhtetaichinh.vn