Vietnam had a trade surplus of $2.2 billion in October, much higher than the government's forecast of $900 million, the customs department said on Wednesday.

Exports in October rose 4.9 percent from a month earlier to $20.3 billion, while imports edged down 0.7 percent from September to $18.1 billion, Vietnam Customs said on its website.

Vietnam exported $174.5 billion of goods in the first ten months of 2017, up 21.3 percent from a year earlier, while imports rose 21.6 percent in the same period to approximately $172 billion, leaving a surplus of $2.6 billion.