The IMF and ASEAN Macroeconomic Research Office both forecasted Vietnam’s economic growth between 7% to 8% exceeding the start of the year expectation of 6%. Vietnam continues to buck supply chain problems as well general slow economic growth due to being significantly established and integrated into the world’s supply chain system. This growth in exports continues to push economic growth despite Vietnam only growing at 3% during the pandemic.75% of Vietnam’s exports consist of garments, electronics and smartphones which have now seen increased demand as consumers get ready to spend after a slow couple years in the pandemic.

While other parts of the economy suffered during the pandemic, exports surprisingly didn’t suffer too much as there was a total of 19% growth from 2019 to 2021. Between January and April 2024, the total trade in goods reached US$238.88 billion, increasing by 15.2 percent year-on-year. Of this, total exports are estimated at US$123.64 billion, up 15 percent year-on-year, while imports are estimated at US$115.24 billion up 15.4 percent year-on-year. Net FDI inflows into Vietnam fell slightly during the Covid pandemic in 2020-2022, standing at USD 15.3 billion per year on average, which is still a high level, equivalent to 4.1% of GDP (compared to 4.7% of GDP on average in 2015-2019). Vietnam has signed more than a dozen free trade agreements in recent years, including one with the European Union and an 11-country CPTPP deal that will slash tariffs across much of the Asia-Pacific. Vietnam’s exports in the January-July period rose 16.6 per cent from a year earlier to $216.66 billion, the second half of the year will see a slightly lower growth as the world fears upcoming recession but the ministry of exports remains confident that its exports will remain stronger than most other countries.