Of the total, key export staples accounted for over US$16.9 billion, with coffee, pepper and tea maintaining a stable growth during the year.

The country shipped 1.76 million tonnes of coffee abroad, worth US$3.74 billion, a rise of 40% in volume and 36% in value over the previous year.

The US and Germany are two largest importers of Vietnam’s coffee with 12% of market share each. Meanwhile, Indonesia posted a sudden growth of 5.6 times in both volume and value compared to the previous year.

Pepper export is estimated at 118,000 tonnes, valued at US$802 million, down 4.3% in volume, but up 9.6% in value.

Vietnam remains the world’s number one cashew nut exporter with 223,000 tonnes of nuts being shipped during the year, bringing home US$1.48 billion. The figures represented a year-on-year rise of 25.4% in volume and 0.7% in value.

The US, China and the Netherlands are Vietnam’s largest pepper markets.

According to the MARD, the country exported more than 8 million tonnes of rice for US$3.7 billion during the year, a rise of 14% in volume and 2.1% in value over last year. However, the prices of rice tended to reduce compared to the beginning of the year.

Meanwhile, the export of aquatic products is estimated at US$6.15 billion, up 0.7% over 2011.

The US is still Vietnam’s top seafood importer, accounting for 19.5% of market share. It was followed by Japan with nearly 18% and the Republic of Korea with 8%.