Vietnam exported nearly 6.6 billion U.S. dollars of wood and wood products in the first five months of this year, surging 61.3 percent year on year, according to the country's General Statistics Office on Tuesday.

In May alone, the country raked in about 1.4 billion U.S. dollars from exporting wood and wood products, posting an 80.3-percent growth year on year.

According to local experts, the impressive growth of wood export can partly attribute to the fact that during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when social distancing is in place, people have more time to upgrade their houses and furniture, which leads to an increase in global demand.

In 2020, Vietnam reaped over 12.3 billion U.S. dollars from exporting wood and wood products, up 15.7 percent year on year and accounting for 4.4 percent of its total export revenue, with China, Japan and the United States among the major markets.

Between January and May this year, Vietnam also spent roughly 1.3 billion U.S. dollars in importing wood and wood products, up 40.6 percent year on year. The country introduced a national logging ban in natural forests in 2016 and has since intensified forestation as well as timber import.