(TSVN) – Vietnam’s seafood exports continue to flourish in 2025, reaching more than 8.1 billion USD in 9 months, up 13% over the same period last year. Notably, Vietnam’s seafood market share in the EU also expanded thanks to increased demand and efforts to take advantage of free trade agreements.
According to the latest data from the Customs Department, Vietnam’s seafood exports in September 2025 reached 1.01 billion USD, up 10.1% over the same period in 2024. In the first 9 months, the total export value of the industry reached 8.16 billion USD, up 13% over the same period last year, reflecting the strong recovery trend of the industry after a period of stagnation.
China continues to be Vietnam’s largest export market, accounting for an increasingly high proportion. In September 2025, export turnover to this market increased by 7.3%, and in the first 9 months increased by 34.6% compared to the same period in 2024. Strong consumption demand from China is said to be due to the recovery of the food service industry and food reserves after the pandemic.
The United States ranked second, with steady growth: exports increased by 6.4% in September, and by 6.2% year-to-date through September. The Japanese market ranked third, with more impressive growth: up 12.3% in September and 11.2% in the first nine months of 2025.
In addition, Vietnam’s seafood exports to South Korea, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Belgium and Hong Kong all maintained positive growth momentum. Experts say this growth momentum comes from the recovery of global consumption demand and the flexible response strategies of Vietnamese enterprises from diversifying markets, improving product quality to investing in deep processing technology to meet higher standards of import markets.
On the other hand, according to data from the European Statistical Office (Eurostat), in the first 7 months of 2025, the EU imported 3.2 million tons of seafood from non-bloc markets, worth 17.32 billion euros (equivalent to 20.2 billion USD), up 9.3% in volume and 7.7% in value respectively compared to the same period in 2024.
Notably, EU seafood imports from Vietnam increased sharply, reaching 18.2% in volume and 19.2% in value in the first 7 months of this year. Vietnam’s seafood market share in total EU extra-bloc imports reached 3.97% in volume and 3.16% in value, up from 3.68% and 2.85% in the same period last year.
Experts said that this result shows the increasingly solid position of Vietnamese seafood in the EU, especially with key products such as shrimp, pangasius, tuna, squid and octopus. Effectively taking advantage of the Vietnam – EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has helped businesses reduce tariff costs and increase competitiveness.
However, to maintain and expand its market share in this demanding market, Vietnam needs to quickly overcome the IUU “yellow card” warning (illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing) imposed by the European Commission (EC) on wild-caught seafood. Removing the “yellow card” will not only help improve the industry’s reputation, but also create more favorable conditions for export activities.
With positive signals from key markets, Vietnam’s seafood exports are forecast to continue to grow in the fourth quarter of 2025, thanks to recovering demand, especially during the year-end holiday season, along with businesses’ continuous efforts in green transformation and sustainable development.
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