The eastern-most nation on Southeast Asia’s Indochina Peninsula, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam shipped US$452.4 billion worth of exported products around the globe in 2023.

That projected dollar amount results from a 71% upturn compared to 5 years earlier in 2019 when Vietnam’s exported goods were worth $264.6 billion.

Year over year, the total value of Vietnamese exports accelerated by 22% from $370.9 billion in 2022.

Based on the average exchange rate for 2023, the Vietnamese dong deflated by -3.2% against the US dollar since 2019 and depreciated by -2.2% from 2022 to 2023. Vietnam’s weaker local currency makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.

Vietnam’s Major Trading Partners

The latest available country-specific data shows that 75.3% of products exported from Vietnam was bought by importers in: United States of America (29.5% of Vietnam’s global total), mainland China (15.6%), South Korea (6.54%), Japan (6.53%), Hong Kong (2.9%), Netherlands (2.8%), Germany (2.4%), India (2.1%), Thailand (2%), Canada (1.71%), United Kingdom (1.63%) and Cambodia (1.55%).

From a continental perspective, 47.6% of Vietnam’s exports by value was delivered to fellow Asian countries while 32.9% was sold to importers in North America. Vietnam shipped another 15% worth of goods to buyers in Europe.

Smaller percentages went to customers in Latin America (2%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Oceania’s Australia and New Zealand (1.7%), and Africa (0.8%).

Given Vietnam’s population of 100.3 million people, its total $452.4 billion in 2023 exports translates to roughly $4,500 for every resident in the Southeast Asian nation. That dollar metric lags the average $4,600 per capita for 2022.

Vietnam’s Top 10 Exports

The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Vietnamese global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Vietnam.

1. Electrical machinery, equipment: US$189.2 billion (41.8% of total exports)
2. Machinery including computers: $48 billion (10.6%)
3. Footwear: $31.1 billion (6.9%)
4. Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $18.5 billion (4.1%)
5. Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $17.9 billion (4%)
6. Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings: $15.9 billion (3.5%)
7. Plastics, plastic articles: $8.1 billion (1.8%)
8. Iron, steel: $7.8 billion (1.7%)
9. Rubber, rubber articles: $6.23 billion (1.4%)
10. Fruits, nuts: $6.14 billion (1.4%)

Vietnam’s top 10 exports accounted for 77.1% of the overall value of global Vietnamese shipments.

Machinery including computers was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 62.6% from 2022 to 2023.

In second place for improving export sales was electrical machinery and equipment via a 34.8% advance.

Vietnam’s shipments of fruits and nuts posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 32.8%.

The leading decliner among Vietnam’s top 10 export categories was iron and steel, thanks to a -5.3% year-over-year drop.

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 13.6% of the Asian country’s total. In second place were electronic integrated circuits or microassemblies (7.2%) trailed by flat panel displays (5.6%), computers including optical readers (4.2%), textile footwear (2.9%), television, radio or radar device parts (also 2.9%), computer parts or accessories (2.5%), leather footwear (2.3%), miscellaneous furniture (1.9%), then solar power diodes or semi-conductors (1.8%).

The leading Vietnamese exports at the more detailed level generated 45% of Vietnam’s overall revenues from its exports.

Products Generating Biggest Trade Surpluses for Vietnam

Vietnam posted an estimated overall $117.5 billion trade surplus during 2023, expanding by 869.1% from the $12.1 billion in black ink one year earlier in 2022.

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$72.7 billion (Up by 312.6% since 2022)
2. Footwear: $28.6 billion (Up by 24.4%)
3. Machinery including computers: $18.9 billion (Reversing a -$12.4 million deficit)
4. Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $16.4 billion (Down by -0.1%)
5. Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $15.6 billion (Down by -8.1%)
6. Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings: $13 billion (Up by 1.9%)
7. Wood: $4.4 billion (Up by 31%)
8. Toys, games: $4.2 billion (Up by 11.5%)
9. Coffee, tea, spices: $4.1 billion (Down by -0.1%)
10. Leather/animal gut articles: $4 billion (Up by 25.2%)

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 -43.6% since 2022)
2. Plastics, plastic articles: -$8.4 billion (Down by -34.8%)
3. Knit or crochet fabric: -$5.5 billion (Up by 15.3%)
4. Iron, steel: -$4.5 billion (Down by -27.4%)
5. Organic chemicals: -$3.9 billion (Down by -22.6%)
6. Manmade filaments: -$3.5 billion (Up by 39.9%)
7. Food industry waste, animal fodder: -$3.2 billion (Down by -27.4%)
8. Other chemical goods: -$2.5 billion (Down by -31.7%)
9. Pharmaceuticals: -$2.4 billion (Down by -30.9%)
10. Vehicles: -$2 billion (Down by -36.5%)

Vietnam has 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 31.5% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($1.439 trillion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 31.5% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 34.7% for 2022. 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 2.01% for 2023, down from an average 2.32% in 2022 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 July 2, 2024

Forbes 2023 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on July 2, 2024

Foreign Trade , United States Census Bureau. Accessed on July 2, 2024

International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on July 2, 2024

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on July 2, 2024

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 2, 2024

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on July 2, 2024

Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on July 2, 2024

Wikipedia, Hanoi. Accessed on July 2, 2024

Wikipedia, List of Companies of Vietnam. Accessed on July 2, 2024

Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on July 2, 2024

Wikipedia, Vietnam. Accessed on July 2, 2024