Preliminary overview of Vietnam's import and export situation in the second half of March 2026 (from March 16th to March 31st, 2026)

The latest preliminary statistics from the Customs Department show that the total value of Vietnam's import and export of goods in the second half of March 2026 (from March 16th to March 31st, 2026) reached US$52.13 billion, an increase of 26.4% (equivalent to an increase of US$10.9 billion) compared to the results achieved in the first half of March 2026 (from March 1st to March 15th, 2026).

The results achieved in the second half of March 2026 brought the total value of imports and exports of the whole country in the first three months of 2026 to 249.50 billion USD, an increase of 23%, equivalent to an increase of 46.6 billion USD compared to the same period last year.

Specifically, the total import and export value of FDI enterprises in the first three months of 2026 reached US$189.58 billion, an increase of 39% (equivalent to an increase of US$53.16 billion) compared to the same period last year; the total import and export value of domestic enterprises was US$59.92 billion, a decrease of 9.9% (equivalent to a decrease of US$6.55 billion) compared to the same period last year.

Based on the above results, in the second half of March 2026, the country's merchandise trade balance showed a deficit of 56.5 million USD. Thus, for the first three months of 2026, Vietnam's merchandise trade balance showed a deficit of 3.64 billion USD, while in the same period of the previous year, the trade balance showed a surplus of 3.57 billion USD.

Regarding exports:

The total value of Vietnam's exports in the period of March 2026 reached US$26.04 billion, an increase of 28% (equivalent to an absolute increase of US$5.69 billion) compared to the previous period.

Chart 1: Export value of the largest commodity groups in the first half of March 2026  and the second half of March 2026.  

Source: Customs Department

Export value in the second half of March 2026 increased compared to the first half of March 2026 in several product groups as follows: computers, electronic products and components increased by US$1.82 billion (corresponding to a 32.5% increase); machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts increased by US$997 million (corresponding to a 42.4% increase); textiles and garments increased by US$425 billion (corresponding to a 31.2% increase); footwear increased by US$321 million (corresponding to a 39.4% increase); wood and wood products increased by US$290 million (corresponding to a 52.9% increase)... In addition, exports of telephones and components in the second half of March 2026 reached US$2.56 billion, a decrease of US$0.48 billion (corresponding to a 15.7% decrease) compared to the previous period.

Thus, in the first three months of 2026, Vietnam's total export value reached US$122.93 billion, an increase of 19.1% compared to the same period last year, equivalent to an increase of US$19.70 billion year-on-year.

Statistics from the Customs Department also show that the value of goods exported by foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises in the first two months of 2026 reached US$20.92 billion ,  an increase of 27.6% (equivalent to an increase of US$4.53 billion) compared to the previous period. This brings the total value of goods exported by this group of enterprises in the first three months of 2026 to US$98.21 billion, an increase of 33.6% (equivalent to an increase of US$24.68 billion) compared to the same period last year, accounting for 79.9% of the total export value of the whole country.

Regarding imports:

The total value of goods imported into Vietnam during the second half of March 2026 reached US$26.09 billion, an increase of 25% (equivalent to an increase of US$5.21 billion) compared to the previous period.

Chart 2: Import value of the largest commodity groups  in the first half of March 2026  compared to the second half of March 2026

Source: Customs Department

The value of goods imported in the second half of March 2026 increased compared to the first half of March 2026, mainly in the following product groups: machinery, equipment, tools, and other spare parts increased by US$1.04 billion (a 46.1% increase); computers, electronic products, and components increased by US$849 million (a 10.1% increase); petroleum products increased by US$434 million (an 88.2% increase); and fabrics increased by US$322 million (an 84.5% increase).

Thus, in the first three months of 2026, the total value of imports nationwide reached US$126.57 billion, an increase of 27%, equivalent to an increase of US$26.91 billion compared to the same period last year.

The value of goods imported by FDI enterprises during this period was US$18.26 billion, an increase of 20.9% (equivalent to an increase of US$3.16 billion) compared to the previous period .  For the first three months of 2026, the total import value of this group of enterprises reached US$91.37 billion, an increase of 45.3% (equivalent to an increase of US$28.47 billion) compared to the same period last year, accounting for 72.2% of the total import value of the whole country.

Source: customs.gov.vn