Two-way trade between Vietnam and Singapore reached nearly SGD 42.8 billion in the first nine months of 2026, an increase of 46.8% from the same period last year.
The growth exceeded Singapore’s overall foreign trade increase of 36.9%. Vietnam remained Singapore’s 10th-largest trading partner, while its share of Singapore’s total trade rose from 2.9% to 3.1%.
Singapore’s imports from Vietnam rose 123.2% to SGD 19.4 billion. That was more than three times the 35.7% growth in Singapore’s overall imports. Vietnam’s share of Singapore’s total imports rose from 1.8% to 3%.
Singapore’s exports to Vietnam increased 14.3% to SGD 23.4 billion. Domestically produced goods accounted for SGD 6.4 billion, up 15.1%, while re-exports reached nearly SGD 17 billion, an increase of 14%.
The momentum continued in September, when bilateral trade rose 61.6% year on year to nearly SGD 5.2 billion. Singapore’s exports to Vietnam reached nearly SGD 3 billion, up 35.6%, while imports from Vietnam exceeded SGD 2.2 billion, an increase of 115.9%.
Including re-exports, Singapore recorded a trade surplus of SGD 4 billion with Vietnam during the nine-month period, according to Singapore’s figures. When only domestically produced Singaporean goods are counted, Singapore recorded a trade deficit of SGD 12.9 billion.
The figures indicate that Vietnam is becoming an increasingly important source of goods for Singapore’s distribution and re-export networks, rather than simply a market for goods shipped through the city-state.
Data from Enterprise Singapore showed that electrical machinery, equipment and parts (HS 85), together with mineral fuels, oils and related products (HS 27), remained Singapore’s two largest export categories to Vietnam. Combined exports in these categories exceeded SGD 15.1 billion, accounting for 64.6% of Singapore’s total exports to Vietnam.
On the import side, HS 85 products also remained Singapore’s largest import category from Vietnam. They reached SGD 9.5 billion, up 118.8%, and accounted for 49.2% of total imports from Vietnam.
The Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore partly attributed the growth to Singapore’s investment cycle in artificial intelligence and semiconductors. The cycle is boosting electronics production, exports and re-exports while increasing demand for machinery, equipment and components from regional manufacturing centres, including Vietnam.
Rising Singaporean imports of HS 84 and HS 85 products from Vietnam show the country’s growing role in regional electronics and technology supply chains. Vietnam’s manufacturing and assembly capacity complements Singapore’s strengths in distribution, re-exports, finance and logistics.
Sources: VietnamPlus / Vietnam News Agency
