HANOI, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam spent some 164 million U.S. dollars on fruit and vegetable imports in the first two months of 2017, up 55 percent year-on-year, according to Vietnam Customs on Tuesday.

The country's consumers appear to have grown an appetite for imported fruit and vegetables, especially from China and Thailand, the customs said.

Vietnam spent over 82 million dollars on importing fruit and vegetables from Thailand in January and February.

The Southeast Asian neighbor accounted for 50 percent of Vietnam's fruit and vegetable imports.

China took second place with 19 percent, followed by Myanmar and the United States at nine and eight percent, respectively.

According to Vietnam Customs, imports of fruit from Thailand have jumped since Thai retail giants bought major supermarkets chains Big C and Metro in 2016 and 2015.

Despite being an agricultural country, Vietnam has increased its spending on fruit and vegetable imports. In 2016, Vietnam spent around 925 million U.S. dollars on these products, up nearly 50 percent from 2015.