Employees work at a plant. Vietnam’s import-export value in the first five months of 2021 reached some US$262.3 billion amid the Covid-19 pandemic, up 33.5% year-on-year - PHOTO: TNO

HCMC - Vietnam’s import-export value in the first five months of 2021 reached some US$262.3 billion amid the Covid-19 pandemic, up 33.5% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Between January and May, the country exported goods worth US$130.94 billion, soaring by 30.7% year-on-year, while it spent US$131.31 billion on imports, up 36.4%, resulting in the country incurring a trade deficit of US$370 million.

Export and import activities were affected by the latest wave of Covid-19 in May, leaving the production process at many firms stagnant, the local media reported.

In May, the country earned some US$26 billion from exports, down 2.1% month-on-month, with the export value of domestic firms reaching US$6.9 billion and their export revenue hitting US$19 billion.

In the five-month period, there were 22 items whose export revenue totaled over US$1 billion each, including six products with export revenue of more than US$5 billion each. Phones and phone parts remained the biggest export earner, posting a total export value of US$21.9 billion, up 19.6% year-on-year.

Electronics, computers and accessories came second, with earnings of US$19.5 billion, up 26% year-on-year.

In the January-May period, the domestic sector spent US$45.8 billion on imports, a 30.2% year-on-year rise, while the foreign direct investment sector accounted for over US$85.5 billion, up 39.9% against the year-ago period.