An electronics production factory in the northern province of Thai Nguyen. The category of machinery, equipment and spare parts led Vietnam's exports to the UK in October. (Photo: VNA)

In October alone, the country’s export turnover to the UK hit 687.2 million USD, up more than 13% from the previous month.

The 10-month growth has been driven by some key export items with large turnover such as machinery, equipment, spare parts, computers, electronics, footwear and textiles.

The leading export category in the last 10 months was machinery, equipment and spare parts, with a turnover of 1.14 billion USD, up 39.7% year-on-year and accounting for 17.9% of total exports.

Next was mobile phones and components with over 1.03 billion USD in turnover, down 12.9% compared to the same period last year and accounting for 16.3% of total exports so far.

Some other categories saw significant growth in exports compared to 2023.

Computers, electronics, and components increased by 30.7%. Handbags, suitcases and umbrellas rose by 18%. Seafood increased by nearly 10%.

Base metals grew by 30.2%, wood and wood products by 15.5%, steel products by 34%, and transportation means and spare parts by 35.7%.

The Vietnam–UK Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), which has been in effect since 2021, has been a key driver of this growth. For three consecutive years since the agreement's implementation, Vietnam’s exports to the UK have seen significant improvement, with large trade surpluses.

In 2021, two-way trade between the two countries was 6.6 billion USD, up 17.2% from 2020, with a trade surplus of 4.8 billion USD.

In 2022, due to global challenges and economic difficulties in the UK, two-way trade decreased, but Vietnam’s exports to the UK still grew by about 1.9%.

In 2023, while Vietnam’s exports to several markets declined, with some dropping to 30%, exports to the UK still grew by 11%.

Vietnam-UK trade this year was forecast to reach 8.5-8.7 billion USD./.