The country imported 658,700 tonnes of meat and meat products worth USD 1.91 billion during the period, up 5.6 per cent in volume and 26.3 per cent in value year-on-year, according to customs data cited by the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Agency of Foreign Trade.
India remained the largest supplier, accounting for 20.39 per cent of total meat imports, with 134,200 tonnes worth USD 580.8 million. Imports from India rose 17 per cent in volume and 43.8 per cent in value.
Poultry meat and edible offal accounted for the largest share of imports at 36.33 per cent, followed by fresh and frozen buffalo meat at 18.9 per cent and pork at 18.85 per cent.
Pork imports reached 124,100 tonnes worth USD 212.64 million, up 18.8 per cent in volume but down 23.8 per cent in value from a year earlier.
The average import price fell 35.9 per cent to USD 1,712 per tonne, or about VND 45,368 per kilogramme.
Brazil was the largest pork supplier, accounting for 45.1 per cent of imports, followed by Russia at 21.24 per cent, Spain at 19.87 per cent and Germany at 4.58 per cent.
Meanwhile, Vietnam exported 12,400 tonnes of meat and meat products worth USD 81.78 million in the first eight months, down 16.4 per cent in volume but up 4.3 per cent in value year-on-year.
Hong Kong remained the largest export market, accounting for nearly 32 per cent of volume and 41.54 per cent of value, although shipments there fell sharply from a year earlier.
Pork exports totalled 4,200 tonnes worth USD 36.15 million, down 23 per cent in volume and 15.7 per cent in value.