Between January and May, the communist country's imports fell by 37 percent to a total of US$23.98 billion, while exports totalled US$22.85 billion, a drop of 6.8 percent, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said in a preliminary report.

Last year, Vietnam reported a trade deficit of US$14.4 billion in the same period, before the global financial crisis fully struck.

The GSO also revised down the four-month trade surplus to US$370 million from the previously-estimated US$800 million. In the five-month period, Vietnam's imports of machinery and production equipment dropped by 23.9 percent year-on-year. Spending on petroleum products was down by 55.3 percent, GSO said, adding the country earned 44 percent year-on-year less in crude oil shipments.

A large portion of Vietnam's earnings earlier in the year came from the export of gold, which made US$2.6 billion, more than 33 times the amount during the same period of 2008.

GSO estimated that industrial production during the first five months of the year rose by 4.0 percent, to about US$14.7 billion.

The non-state and foreign invested sectors both reported a rise in their production while state enterprises have maintained relatively steady development, according to GSO.

Vietnam's economy last year expanded by 6.18 percent, its lowest level in almost a decade, and the government said first-quarter growth in 2009 was 3.1 percent, the worst on record.

Vietnam, a major exporter of goods including clothing and footwear as well as commodities including rice, coffee and seafood, has been hit by downturns in the recession-hit United States, Europe and other markets.

It needs imports to fuel its developing economy.

The government last week asked the National Assembly to reduce this year's growth target to around five percent from the previous goal of 6.5 percent.