The country spent $996 million to import rice products to serve domestic production and consumption needs in the first nine months of this year. — Photo tieudung.kinhtedothi.vn

HÀ NỘI — The value of rice imports reached US$1 billion in the January-September period, the first time in history that Việt Nam's rice import turnover has reached the billion US-dollar mark.

Việt Nam exported more than 7 million tonnes of rice, earning $4.37 billion in the first nine months of this year.

Compared to the same period last year, the amount of exported rice rose by 9.2 per cent, while the value surged sharply by 23.5 per cent.

Rice import turnover also soared sharply.

Statistics showed that the country's rice import turnover skyrocketed by 154.2 per cent last month compared to the same period last year, reaching $117 million.

The country spent $996 million to import rice products to serve domestic production and consumption needs in the first nine months of this year, a year-on-year growth of 57.3 per cent.

This is also a record high number, and far exceeds the import turnover of $860 million for the whole last year.

If imports continue at the same pace as the last two months, turnover could reach $1.3 billion this year. — VNS