According to statistics from Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA), Vietnam's chili export in April reached 1,935 tonnes with a value of more than 4.7 million USD, a sharp increase of 27.1% in volume compared to the previous year. In April, China accounted for 91% of Vietnam's export output with 1,765 tonnes, an increase of 31.8% compared to the previous month.
By the end of April 30, Vietnam's chili export output reached 5,076 tonnes with a turnover of 12.7 million USD, an increase of 18.5% in volume and an increase of 46.8% in value. China and Laos are the two main export markets with output reaching 4,518 tonnes and 340 tonnes respectively, accounting for 95.7% of export output.
Chili is the product that helps Vietnam earn millions of USD in 2023. According to data from Vietnam Pepper Association (VPSA), in 2023, Vietnam export of chili reached 20 million USD, equivalent to 10,173 tonnes, an increase of 107% compared to 2022.
China and Laos are the two largest export markets of Vietnamese chili, with output reaching more than 8,600 tonnes and 1,100 tonnes, respectively, accounting for 85% and 10.9% of the market share.
Since March 2022, Vietnamese fresh chili is approved for export to Chinese market. Accordingly, all shipments of fresh chili must be quarantined by Vietnamese functional units or authorized by Vietnamese functional units and relevant parameters must be clearly noted in the certificate. Selling price of chili peppers is also much better than in 2022, helping farmers have stable profits.
Chili is also known as a fruit with a capital of 10 profits when it can be grown intercropped with many other plants, does not require much care and has a short harvest time. For each chili plant, farmers will receive over 1 tonne of fruit each year. Thus, with current selling price of 30,000 - 40,000 VND/kg, farmers will have a revenue of 30 - 50 million VND.
In the world, main chili growing countries are India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Romania, China, Nigeria and Mexico...Particularly for dried chili, India is the producer and exporter of chili, leading dry market in the world, accounting for more than 6.11% in 2021, followed by Vietnam, China and Indonesia. India is also the world's leading producer and consumer of chili peppers with about 36% of global production, exporting about 30% of total production.
Data from Department of Crop Production shows that chili is grown most in provinces of Dong Thap, An Giang, Tien Giang, Soc Trang, Vinh Long and Tra Vinh with a total area of over 7,000 hectares, with an output of about 100,000 tonnes a year. Meanwhile, in the Central Highlands, planted area is about 4,000-5,000 hectares with an output of about 60,000 tonnes a year. Besides, Lang Son is also one of the key chili growing areas, the chili growing area in the province reaches more than 1,479 hectares, an increase of 91 hectares compared to 2022 crop year.

L. Giang
Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn