The eastern-most nation on Southeast Asia’s Indochina Peninsula, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam shipped US$642.9 billion worth of exported products around the world in 2025.

That calculated dollar amount results from a 91.5% acceleration compared to 5 years earlier in 2021 when Vietnam’s exported goods were worth $335.8 billion.

Year over year, the total value of Vietnamese exports spiked by 59.4% from $403.2 billion in 2024.

Based on the average exchange rate for 2025, the Vietnamese dong strengthened by 3.7% against the US dollar from 2024 to 2025. Vietnam’s stronger local currency makes its exports paid for in weaker US dollars relatively more expensive for international buyers starting with American currency.

Vietnam’s Major Trading Partners

The latest available country-specific data shows that 74.5% of products exported from Vietnam was bought by importers in: United States of America (29.6% of the Vietnamese total), mainland China (15.1%), South Korea (6.3%), Japan (6.1%), Netherlands (3.2%), Hong Kong (3.1%), India (2.2%), Germany (2%), Thailand (1.89%), United Kingdom (1.87%), Australia (1.59%) and Canada (1.58%).

From a continental perspective, 47.1% of Vietnam’s exports by value was delivered to fellow Asian countries while 33.0% was sold to importers in North America.

Vietnam shipped another 15.6% worth of goods to buyers in Europe.

Smaller percentages went to customers located in Oceania (1.8%) Australia and New Zealand, Latin America (1.7%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, and Africa (0.9%).

Given Vietnam’s population of 102.2 million people, its total US$642.9 billion in 2025 exports translates to roughly $6,300 for every resident in the Southeast Asian nation. That dollar metric eclipses the average $3,800 per capita for 2024.

Vietnam’s Top 10 Exports

The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Vietnamese global shipments during 2025. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Vietnam.

1. Electrical machinery, equipment: US$249.7 billion (38.8% of total exports)
2. Machinery including computers: $130.3 billion (20.3%)
3. Footwear: $37.3 billion (5.8%)
4. Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $21.9 billion (3.4%)
5. Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $20.7 billion (3.2%)
6. Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefab buildings: $20.5 billion (3.2%)
7. Toys, games: $11.5 billion (1.8%)
8. Plastics, plastic articles: $11.1 billion (1.7%)
9. Fruits, nuts: $9.32 billion (1.4%)
10. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $8.47 billion (1.3%)

Vietnam’s top 10 export product categories generated over four-fifths (81%) of the overall value of global Vietnamese shipments.

Toys and games posted a 209% gain from 2024 to 2025.

In second place were Vietnamese exports of machinery including computers (up 174.3%) ahead of electrical machinery and equipment (up 74.2%).

Vietnam’s exports most modest year-over-year increase belongs to fruits and nuts via a 2.9% upturn.

The above listed product categories are at the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.

Drilling down to the more granular four-digit HTS codes, phone devices including smartphones are Vietnam’s most valuable exported product coming in at 17.8% of the Asian country’s total. In second place were computers or optical readers (9.8%), trailed by computer parts or accessories (6.8%), flat panel displays (4.2%), electronic integrated circuits or microassemblies (3.7%), textile footwear (2.6%), leather footwear (1.8%), microphones, headphones and amplifiers (1.7%), miscellaneous furniture (1.6%), then insulated wire or cable (1.5%).

The leading Vietnamese exports at the more detailed level generated 51.6% of Vietnam’s overall revenues from its exports.

Products Generating Biggest Trade Surpluses for Vietnam

Vietnam posted an estimated overall US$196.1 billion trade surplus during 2025, expanding by 713.2% from the $24.1 billion in black ink one year earlier in 2024.

The following types of Vietnamese product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.

In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.

1. Machinery including computers: US$84.9 billion (Up by 346.6% since 2024)
2. Electrical machinery, equipment: $65 billion (Up by 791.3%)
3. Footwear: $34.6 billion (Up by 57.2%)
4. Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $20.4 billion (Up by 24.3%)
5. Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $19.3 billion (Up by 17.5%)
6. Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefab buildings: $17.1 billion (Up by 27.2%)
7. Toys, games: $9.7 billion (Up by 203.9%)
8. Coffee, tea, spices: $7.4 billion (Up by 34.7%)
9. Wood: $5.4 billion (Up by 43.7%)
10. Leather/animal gut articles: $4.7 billion (Up by 42.1%)

Vietnam has highly positive net exports in the international trade of machinery including computers then electrical machinery and equipment, notably smartphones. In turn, these cashflows indicate Vietnam’s strong competitive advantages under the related products categories.

Products Generating Worst Trade Deficits for Vietnam

Below are exports from Vietnam that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Vietnam’s goods trail Vietnamese importer spending on foreign products.

1. Mineral fuels including oil: -US$12 billion (Down by -50.9% since 2024)
2. Plastics, plastic articles: -$9.6 billion (Down by -15.7%)
3. Iron, steel: -$6.1 billion (Up by 10%)
4. Knit or crochet fabric: -$6.1 billion (Up by 20.2%)
5. Vehicles: -$4.3 billion (Up by 106.6%)
6. Organic chemicals: -$4 billion (Down by -2%)
7. Manmade filaments: -$3.8 billion (Up by 33.3%)
8. Copper: -$3.6 billion (Up by 22.7%)
9. Aluminum: -$3.2 billion (Down by -20%)
10. Pharmaceuticals: -$3.1 billion (Down by -27.9%)

Historically, Vietnam records highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for coal gas, refined petroleum oils, coal briquettes, petroleum coke, coal coke and petroleum gases under the mineral fuels-related product category.

Vietnamese Export Companies

Two Vietnamese corporations rank among Forbes Global 2000. One company, Vietin Bank is a regional bank.

The other large business, Petrovietnam Gas is part of the following list of Vietnamese international trade businesses.

• Danang Rubber Company (rubber)
• DOJI Gold and Gems Group (gold, jewelry)
• FPT Group (information technology)
• Habeco (beer)
• Hoa Phat Group (metals)
• Petrovietnam Gas (petroleum/natural gas)
• Samsung Electronics (electronics)
• Viettel Group (telecommunications)
• Vinamilk (dairy products)
• World Auto (cars, motorcycles)

 
In macroeconomic terms, Vietnam’s total exported goods represent 36% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2025 ($1.786 trillion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 36% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2025 compares to 30.2% for 2024. Those percentages suggest a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Vietnam’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.

Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Vietnam’s unemployment rate averaged 2.03% for 2025, down from an average 2.2% in 2024 according to International Monetary Fund statistics.

Vietnam’s capital is Hanoi, a city nicknamed “Paris of the Orient” and “Paris of the East”.

See also Vietnam’s Top 10 Imports, Vietnam’s Top Trading Partners, Rice Exports by Country and Top Asian Export Countries

Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook report on East Asia/Southeast Asia: Indonesia. Accessed on May 16, 2026

EXCHANGE-RATES.org Vietnamese Dong (VND) to US Dollar, Exchange Rate History. Accessed on May 16, 2026

Forbes 2025 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 16, 2026

Foreign Trade , United States Census Bureau. Accessed on May 16, 2026

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on May 16, 2026

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 16, 2026

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 16, 2026

Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on May 16, 2026

Wikipedia, Hanoi. Accessed on May 16, 2026

Wikipedia, List of Companies of Vietnam. Accessed on May 16, 2026

Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on May 16, 2026

Wikipedia, Vietnam. Accessed on May 16, 2026