Agriculture and forestry exported $1.8 billion worth of products this month, up 21.4 per cent year-on-year, while fisheries earned $600 million, up 19.6 per cent.— Photo baoquangninh.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam's goods exports were valued at US$27.7 billion in January, up 0.2 per cent from the previous month and 50.5 per cent from the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO).

The GSO largely attributed the sharp year-on-year increase to multinational electronics producer Samsung of the Republic of Korea (RoK) stepping up production and export of its new Galaxy S21 series.

In January, six items enjoyed export revenues exceeding the $1 billion benchmark, accounting for 67.3 per cent of total exports.

Best performers included the heavy industry and mining sector which earned $15.6 billion in export revenue, up 71.6 per cent year-on-year and the light industry and handicrafts earning $9.7 billion from export, up 32.3 per cent.

Agriculture and forestry exported $1.8 billion worth of products this month, up 21.4 per cent year-on-year, while fisheries earned $600 million, up 19.6 per cent.

The US remained the largest importer of Vietnamese products in January, with a total of $7.5 billion worth of shipments, up 57.4 per cent from a year earlier.

It was followed by China ($5.8 billion, up 111.6 per cent), the EU ($2.8 billion, 14.8 per cent), ASEAN ($2.3 billion, 31.9 per cent), and Japan ($1.9 billion, 22,7 per cent).

Việt Nam's imports, meanwhile, stood at $26.4 billion in January, a fall of 5.4 per cent compared to December but a growth of 41 per cent from the same period last year. Four items reported import turnover of more than $1 billion, making up 50.6 per cent of the total imports.

China remained the country's biggest supplier of products, with a turnover of $9.6 billion, 72.7 per cent higher than the figure a year earlier.

It was followed by the RoK ($5.1 billion, up 29.3 per cent), ASEAN ($3.4 billion, 63.3 per cent), Japan ($2 billion, 52.9 per cent), and the EU ($1.3 billion, 23.3 per cent).

Việt Nam enjoyed a trade surplus of $1.3 billion in the month, with the domestic economic sector recording a trade deficit of $.8 billion while the foreign direct investment sector (including crude oil) boasted a trade surplus of $3.1 billion.

The GSO also announced that total retail sales of goods and services in January rose by 3.7 per cent month-on-month and 6.4 per cent year-on-year to $479.9 trillion.

The number of foreign tourist arrivals totalled over 17,700, up 9 per cent month-on-month and down 99.1 per cent year-on-year. VNS