Vietnam reported an estimated trade deficit of US$100 million in August, narrowing the country's trade surplus to US$2.8 billion in the January-August period, the General Statistics Office (GSO) has said in a monthly report.
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In August, Vietnam exported goods worth US$20.9 billion, up 2.9% month-on-month, while import turnover reached US$21 billion, up 0.2%.
Overall, Vietnam's trade turnover reached US$308.07 billion in the first eight months of 2018, of which, export value amounted to US$155.41 billion, up 14.5% year-on-year, and imports totaled US$152.66 billion, up 11.6%.
According to the report, Vietnam's export staples during the period continued to increase compared to the same period of the previous year, including phones and accessories; garment; electronic products, computers and components; equipment, parts; and footwear.
Additionally, Vietnamese fishery exports climbed 6.4% year-on-year to US$5.5 billion. Remarkable growth of export turnovers was also seen in vegetables with US$2.7 billion (up 14% year-on-year) and rice with US$2.2 billion (up 23.6% yearly).
However, crude oil exports witnessed sharp declines in both value and volume compared to the same period of last year, standing at US$1.5 billion and 2.64 million tons, down 24.6% in value and 46.6% in volume.
In the January - August period, the US remained Vietnam's biggest export market, spending US$30.2 billion on Vietnamese goods, up 10.2% year-on-year, followed by the European Union with US$27.7 billion, up 10.8%, and China of US$23.4 billion, up 25.2%.
Meanwhile, China remained Vietnam's largest import market during January-August with turnover of US$41.4 billion, a 12.8% climb year-on-year.
South Korea claimed the second place by exporting US$30.8 billion worth of goods to Vietnam, up 1.9% year-on-year, followed by ASEAN with US$20.5 billion, up 11.8%.
