The eastern-most nation on Southeast Asia’s Indochina Peninsula, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam shipped US$499.8 billion worth of exported products around the globe in 2024.

That calculated dollar amount results from a 77.6% advance compared to 5 years earlier in 2020 when Vietnam’s exported goods were worth $281.4 billion.

Year over year, the total value of Vietnamese exports accelerated by 41.6% from $353.1 billion in 2023.

Based on the average exchange rate for 2024, the Vietnamese dong strengthened by 4.9% against the US dollar from 2023 to 2024. Vietnam’s stronger local currency makes its exports paid for in weaker US dollars relatively more expensive for international buyers starting with American currency.

Vietnam’s Major Trading Partners

The latest available country-specific data shows that 74.9% of products exported from Vietnam was bought by importers in: United States of America (27.5% of the Vietnamese total), mainland China (17.2%), South Korea (6.64%), Japan (6.6%), Netherlands (2.9%), Hong Kong (2.7%), India (2.4%), Germany (2.1%), Thailand (2%), United Kingdom (1.8%), Canada (1.6%) and Australia (1.5%).

From a continental perspective, 49.6% of Vietnam’s exports by value was delivered to fellow Asian countries while 30.8% was sold to importers in North America. Vietnam shipped another 15% worth of goods to buyers in Europe.

Smaller percentages went to customers located in Latin America (1.9%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Oceania’s Australia and New Zealand (1.7%), and Africa (0.9%).

Given Vietnam’s population of 101.3 million people, its total $499.8 billion in 2024 exports translates to roughly $4,900 for every resident in the Southeast Asian nation. That dollar metric surpasses the average $4,500 per capita for 2023.

Vietnam’s Top 10 Exports

The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Vietnamese global shipments during 2024. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Vietnam.

1. Electrical machinery, equipment: US$192.1 billion (38.4% of total exports)
2. Machinery including computers: $74.2 billion (14.8%)
3. Footwear: $33.9 billion (6.8%)
4. Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings: $19.3 billion (3.9%)
5. Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $19.3 billion (3.9%)
6. Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $19.2 billion (3.8%)
7. Plastics, plastic articles: $9.9 billion (2%)
8. Iron, steel: $8.7 billion (1.7%)
9. Fruits, nuts: $7.7 billion (1.5%)
10. Rubber, rubber articles: $7.1 billion (1.4%)

Vietnam’s top 10 export product categories generated 78.3% of the overall value of global Vietnamese shipments.

Machinery including computers was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 130.1% from 2023 to 2024.

In second place for improving export sales was footwear via a 63.3% increase.

Vietnam’s shipments of furniture, bedding, lighting, signs and prefabricated buildings posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 59.7%.

The above listed product categories are at the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.

Drilling down to the more granular four-digit HTS codes, phone devices including smartphones are Vietnam’s most valuable exported product coming in at 11.8% of the Asian country’s total. In second place were computers or optical readers (6.5%), trailed by electronic integrated circuits or microassemblies (5.9%), flat panel displays (5.6%), computer parts or accessories (4.4%), textile footwear (2.8%), leather footwear (2.4%), television, radio or radar device parts (2.2%), miscellaneous furniture (2%), then microphones, headphones and amplifiers (1.8%).

The leading Vietnamese exports at the more detailed level generated 45.5% of Vietnam’s overall revenues from its exports.

Products Generating Biggest Trade Surpluses for Vietnam

Vietnam posted an estimated overall US$118.6 billion trade surplus during 2024, expanding by 329.1% from the $27.6 billion in black ink one year earlier in 2023.

The following types of Vietnamese product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.

In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.

1. Electrical machinery, equipment: US$52.9 billion (Up by 164.3% since 2023)
2. Machinery including computers: $39.9 billion (Up by 346.1%)
3. Footwear: $31.3 billion (Up by 60%)
4. Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $17.4 billion (Up by 15.6%)
5. Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $17.3 billion (Up by 19.8%)
6. Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings: $16.2 billion (Up by 48%)
7. Coffee, tea, spices: $5.1 billion (Up by 18.9%)
8. Wood: $5.1 billion (Up by 51.8%)
9. Leather/animal gut articles: $4.32 billion (Up by 46.6%)
10. Toys, games: $4.29 billion (Up by 30.6%)

Vietnam has highly positive net exports in the international trade of electrical machinery and equipment, notably smartphones. In turn, these cashflows indicate Vietnam’s strong competitive advantages under the electrical products category.

Products Generating Worst Trade Deficits for Vietnam

Below are exports from Vietnam that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Vietnam’s goods trail Vietnamese importer spending on foreign products.

1. Mineral fuels including oil: -US$12.7 billion (Down by -43.2% since 2023)
2. Plastics, plastic articles: -$9.6 billion (Down by -4.5%)
3. Knit or crochet fabric: -$6 billion (Up by 43.6%)
4. Iron, steel: -$5.4 billion (Up by 36.7%)
5. Manmade filaments: -$4.13 billion (Up by 80.3%)
6. Organic chemicals: -$4.1 billion (Up by 3.4%)
7. Vehicles: -$3.9 billion (Up by 257.4%)
8. Food industry waste, animal fodder: -$3.22 billion (Down by -12.7%)
9. Pharmaceuticals: -$3.18 billion (Down by -8.4%)
10. Aluminum: -$2.6 billion (Down by -4%)

Historically, Vietnam records highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for coal gas, refined petroleum oils, coal briquettes, petroleum coke, coal coke and petroleum gases under the mineral fuels-related product category.

Vietnamese Export Companies

Two Vietnamese corporations rank among Forbes Global 2000. One company, Vietin Bank is a regional bank.

The other large business, Petrovietnam Gas is part of the following list of Vietnamese international trade businesses.

• Danang Rubber Company (rubber)
• DOJI Gold and Gems Group (gold, jewelry)
• FPT Group (information technology)
• Habeco (beer)
• Hoa Phat Group (metals)
• Petrovietnam Gas (petroleum/natural gas)
• Samsung Electronics (electronics)
• Viettel Group (telecommunications)
• Vinamilk (dairy products)
• World Auto (cars, motorcycles)

 
In macroeconomic terms, Vietnam’s total exported goods represent 30.2% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($1.655 trillion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 30.2% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to 31.5% for 2023. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Vietnam’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.

Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Vietnam’s unemployment rate averaged 2.2% for 2024, down from an average 2.3% in 2023 according to International Monetary Fund statistics.

Vietnam’s capital is Hanoi, a city nicknamed “Paris of the Orient” and “Paris of the East”.

See also Vietnam’s Top 10 Imports, Vietnam’s Top Trading Partners, Rice Exports by Country and Top Asian Export Countries

Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook report on East Asia/Southeast Asia: Indonesia. Accessed on May 2, 2025

EXCHANGE-RATES.org Vietnamese Dong (VND) to US Dollar, Exchange Rate History. Accessed on May 2, 2025

Forbes 2024 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 2, 2025

Foreign Trade , United States Census Bureau. Accessed on May 2, 2025

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on May 2, 2025

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 2, 2025

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 2, 2025

Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on May 2, 2025

Wikipedia, Hanoi. Accessed on May 2, 2025

Wikipedia, List of Companies of Vietnam. Accessed on May 2, 2025

Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on May 2, 2025

Wikipedia, Vietnam. Accessed on May 2, 2025