Fruit and vegetable exports in January are forecast to decrease by 5.2%
Talking to reporters of Industry and Trade Newspaper, Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen - General Secretary of Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association - said that the Association synthesized data from General Department of Customs and forecasted that in January 2025, fruit and vegetable exports will reach a preliminary 416.528 million USD, down 11.3% compared to the previous month (December 2024 reached 529.056 million USD) and down 5.2% compared to the same period in 2024 (January 2024 reached 490.218 million USD).
On other hand, preliminary import turnover of fruits and vegetables in January 2025 reached 284.530 million USD, down 6.6% compared to the previous month (December 2024 reached 304.277 million USD) and up 31.4% over the same period (January 2024 reached 216.595 million USD). Thus, in January 2025, fruit and vegetable industry is expected to have a trade surplus of about 131.998 million USD.
However, with difficulties in exporting durian to Chinese market due to the problem related to yellow O, Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen said that export of fruits and vegetables in January 2025 is estimated to reach less than 400 million USD.
Previously, Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) cited data from General Department of Customs saying that in 2024, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports recorded a record high with a turnover of approximately 7.15 billion USD, an increase of 27.6% compared to 2023. In December 2024 alone, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports reached over 529 million USD, an increase of 15.5% compared to November 2024 and an increase of 29.8% compared to December 2023. In 2024, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable industry has exploited most of its traditional and potential export markets, except for the Netherlands market. According to data from General Department of Customs, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable export turnover to key markets all recorded high growth in 2024 compared to 2023.
Accordingly, fruit and vegetable export turnover to China reached over 4.63 billion USD, up 27.3%; the United States increased by 39.8%; South Korea increased by 39.6%; Thailand increased by 73.7%; Japan increased by 15.3%; Taiwan (China) market increased by 10.9%; Australia increased by 25.9%...This reflects efforts of the fruit and vegetable industry in improving quality, meeting strict market standards, especially taking advantage of opportunities brought by FTAs.
Concerns about a target of 8 billion USD
Import-Export Department commented that many positive signals from international market are opening up good opportunities for Vietnamese fruit and vegetable industry in 2025. Demand for fruits, vegetables and processed products in the world tends to increase due to health benefits.
According to https://www.statista.com, revenue in global fresh fruit market reach 778.4 billion USD in 2025. Average annual growth rate for the period 2025 - 2029 is expected to be 6.22%. Meanwhile, Vietnamese fruit and vegetable industry is increasingly asserting its position in the world market.
Currently, Vietnamese fruit and vegetable industry holds the second largest market share in China and its market share in traditional export markets such as the United States, Japan, Korea, EU, Australia, etc. is increasingly expanding. This is considered basis for Vietnamese fruit and vegetable industry to achieve the export target of 8 billion USD in 2025.
However, trade competition between the United States and China; geopolitical conflicts in some countries are major challenges for fruit and vegetable exports in 2025. In addition, challenge for our country's fruit and vegetable industry is that supply chain still has many limitations such as: products are easily contaminated with chemicals, violating pesticide residues due to the small and scattered production scale in many places, leading to uneven quality; or lack of market information, making it difficult to apply standards of importing countries.
For fruit and vegetable export industry to be stable and grow sustainably, Import-Export Department recommends that there should be close links between farmers, cooperatives and enterprises. Cooperation will help increase value of agricultural products and affirm Vietnamese brand on global export map.
Currently, durian accounts for nearly 50% of Vietnam's total fruit and vegetable export turnover. Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen commented that if difficulties in the export market are not resolved soon, export target of 8 billion USD set for this year will be difficult to achieve.

Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn