The domestic sector ran a $29.43 billion trade deficit, while the foreign-invested sector, including crude oil, recorded a surplus of $49.46 billion, said the office’s director general Nguyen Thi Huong at a Monday press conference in Hanoi.
Exports amounted to $126.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, a 20% year-on-year jump, and $475.04 billion for the full year, up 17% from 2024.
During the year, domestic players shipped $107.95 billion, down 6.1% and accounting for only 22.7% of total exports. Foreign-invested firms accounted for the rest at $367.09 billion, a 26.1% increase.
The office said exports of 36 items topped $1 billion, with eight exceeding $10 billion. Together these items made up 94% of total exports last year.
Processed industrial products led with $421.47 billion, or 88.7% of exports. Agriculture and forestry brought in $39.46 billion (8.3%), seafood $11.29 billion (2.4%), and fuels and minerals $2.83 billion (0.6%).
Imports totaled $123.1 billion in the last quarter, up 21.3% from a year earlier.
They amounted to $455.01 billion for the whole year, a 19.4% growth, with domestic firms importing $137.38 billion, down 2%, and foreign businesses buying $317.63 billion, up 31.9%.
Imports of 47 imported items topped $1 billion, accounting for 93.8% of the total and including nine items that exceeded $10 billion.
Production inputs dominated the import basket at $426.11 billion (93.6%). Of these, machinery, equipment and spare parts accounted for 52.7% while raw materials and fuels made up 40.9%, followed by consumer goods at 6.4%.
Total trade for the year went up 18.2% to $930.05 billion. The U.S. solidified its position as Vietnam’s biggest export market with $153.2 billion in purchases, while China remained the largest supplier at $186 billion.
Vietnam posted a $133.9 billion trade surplus with the U.S., up 28.2%, and a $38.6 billion surplus with the EU, up 10.1%. Its surplus with Japan narrowed 30.1% to $2.1 billion.
Meanwhile, trade deficits with China ballooned 39.6% to $115.6 billion. Deficits with South Korea edged up 4.3% to $31.6 billion, while those with ASEAN jumped 42.4% to $14.2 billion.
