Vietnam leads the white rice market share in Singapore.
According to data from Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), reported by the Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore, bilateral trade between Singapore and Vietnam in June 2025 reached 3.2 billion SGD, an increase of 30.4% compared to the same period in 2024. Of this, Singapore’s exports to Vietnam amounted to 2.2 billion SGD (up 22.8%), while imports from Vietnam reached 993.6 million SGD (up 51.9%).
In the first half of 2025, Vietnam remained Singapore’s 10th largest trading partner, with total bilateral trade reaching 19.5 billion SGD, up 28.5% year-on-year. Of this, exports to Vietnam amounted to 13.9 billion SGD (up 24.4%), while imports from Vietnam totaled 5.5 billion SGD (up 40.1%).
Within Singapore’s export structure, domestically manufactured products exported to Vietnam reached nearly 3.9 billion SGD (up 13.4%), while re-exports to Vietnam totaled 10.1 billion SGD (up 29.2%).
In the first half of 2025, Singapore recorded a trade surplus of 8.4 billion SGD with Vietnam, an increase of 15.9% compared to the same period in 2024. However, when based solely on the origin of goods, Vietnam had a trade surplus of over 1.6 billion SGD with Singapore.
Electrical machinery and equipment (HS code 85) remained the top import category from Vietnam to Singapore, reaching 2.7 billion SGD in value — up 80.7% year-on-year — and accounting for 49.8% of Singapore’s total imports from Vietnam.
The second and third largest import categories were nuclear reactors, boilers, and mechanical machinery and parts (HS 84), valued at 1.2 billion SGD (up 80.9%), and glass and glassware (HS 70), valued at 430.5 million SGD (up 16.8%).
Notably, Vietnam is currently the third-largest rice supplier to the Singaporean market, with a strong market share in both white rice and milled/husked fragrant rice segments.
According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore, in the first six months of 2025, Singapore imported 60.9 million SGD worth of rice from Vietnam — a 17.1% decline year-on-year — accounting for 24.5% of the country's total rice imports.
Although the size of the Singapore rice market remained relatively stable, the total import value of Vietnamese rice fell by 17.1%, possibly due to a decline in export prices. According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the country’s average rice export price in the first half of 2025 was estimated at USD 517.5 per ton, down 18.4% compared to the same period in 2024.
Currently, white rice is the highest-value category among Vietnamese rice products exported to Singapore, reaching 38.6 million SGD in the first half of 2025, up 11.9% year-on-year, and accounting for 29.6% of the market share.
Statistics from Singapore’s business authority also show that white rice is one of the most diversely sourced commodities in Singapore, with imports from over 20 countries. Despite this, Vietnam ranks second in this category, behind India, which leads with 60.9 million SGD in imports and a 46.7% market share.
In addition to white rice, Vietnam exported two other major rice categories to Singapore: milled/husked fragrant rice and glutinous rice. In the first half of 2025, their import values reached 15.5 million USD and 4.7 million USD respectively, accounting for 57% and 61% of Singapore’s imports in those categories.
Although the import value of these two rice categories from Vietnam to Singapore has continued to decline compared to the same period in 2024, Vietnam currently remains the leading supplier in both segments.
The Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore also forecasts that, despite a stable rice import market, Vietnamese rice will continue facing strong competition from similar products from India, Thailand, and Japan. Singapore’s proposal to sign a bilateral rice trade agreement with Vietnam may help stabilize Vietnam’s rice exports to the country in the near future.
Source: vneconomy.vn
