AsemconnectVietnam - Despite the market's many fluctuations, Vietnam's seafood exports in 2025 are showing impressive resilience with a 10-month value of more than 9.5 billion USD, up 15% over the same period.

Clear signs of recovery from key industries help the expectation of reaching the 11 billion USD mark get closer.
Growth from key industries
According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), in the first 10 months of 2025, Vietnam's seafood exports reached more than 9.5 billion USD, up by 15% over the same period, despite the continuous fluctuations in the international market. Although the third quarter showed signs of slowing down due to the impact of the US's reciprocal tariffs, key industries still maintained good resilience, creating a foundation to bring the whole year's turnover closer to the 11 billion USD mark.
In the export product group, shrimp continued to play the "locomotive" role when reaching over 3.9 billion USD after 10 months. Besides the steady increase in whiteleg shrimp and tiger prawn, lobster became the breakthrough phenomenon of the year when reaching over 712 million USD, up to 134% thanks to the large demand from China and Hong Kong, especially the HORECA segment.
Pangasius held the second leading position, reaching about 1.8 billion USD. Notably, tilapia emerged strongly with a growth rate of 220%, reaching 62 million USD - considered a new strategic industry of Vietnam.
In contrast, tuna was under a lot of pressure. The value in 10 months reached about 791 million USD, down by nearly 4% due to lack of raw materials and the impact of the Middle East conflict disrupting the supply chain. Some businesses had to reduce production or switch to tuna loin products to reduce costs.
Meanwhile, squid and octopus are recovering strongly, bringing the total turnover in the first 10 months to over 627 million USD. Fish cakes and surimi are also bright spots, reaching 291 million USD, up by 24% over the same period.
From a market perspective, China and Hong Kong continued to be “important fulcrums”, with the turnover in the first 10 months exceeding 2 billion USD, up by more than 32%. Meanwhile, the US market has become a “risk hotspot” due to the 20% reciprocal tax applied since August and the risk of impact from the MMPA (US Marine Life Protection Act).
10-month exports to the US reached about 1.66 billion USD but the downward trend has been clear since the third quarter when many businesses proactively reduced their shipments. Japan recovered steadily with nearly 1.45 billion USD, while the EU reached 985 million USD thanks to the relaxation of some technical barriers.
For the shrimp industry, the global frozen shrimp market is forecast to increase from 18,742.6 million USD in 2025 to 32,847.3 million USD in 2035, equivalent to an increase of 75.3% with a CAGR of 5.8%/year. This is a great opportunity for Vietnam to expand its scale and participate more deeply in the high-value segment.
Mr. Le Van Quang, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Minh Phu Group, said: "The current challenge is high production costs due to diseases and unreasonable farming area planning. If the disease problem and farming area planning are resolved, Vietnamese shrimp can completely rise to become the world leader."
For pangasius, China continues to be a large and stable market thanks to its suitable price advantage and low logistics costs. The EU also has a lot of room due to the shortage of whitefish supply, causing the demand for alternative products to increase sharply. Vietnamese tilapia is considered to have the potential to “breakthrough” if properly invested in farming, processing and branding.
Opportunities and challenges intertwine on the journey towards the 11 billion USD mark
The tuna industry is expected to create new changes thanks to Decree No. 309/2025/ND-CP amending and supplementing the provisions of Decree No. 26/2019/ND-CP and Decree No. 37/2024/ND-CP, which temporarily suspends the regulations on minimum size of some natural aquatic species. These policies are expected to remove obstacles for businesses, especially in tuna exploitation, opening up the hope of recovery in 2026.
Vietnam's seafood industry accelerates at the end of the year, with exports expected to reach 11 billion USD in 2025.
However, besides the opportunities, the Vietnamese seafood industry faces many challenges. The extension of the reciprocal tax in the United States, the risk of being stuck in the MMPA from the beginning of 2026, the possibility of the EU continuing to maintain the IUU yellow card, and fierce competitive pressure from India, Ecuador and Indonesia... all create great pressure for businesses.
This context requires the industry to restructure the market towards diversification, increase the proportion of value-added products, invest heavily in processing technology and green standards to improve competitiveness.
Despite many "headwinds", Vietnam's seafood exports in 2025 are still demonstrating resilience, flexible adaptability and aspiration to reach further.
The growth momentum of key products, the expansion of the fresh market in Asia and timely policy adjustments are opening up prospects for the industry to move closer to the target of 11 billion USD, creating a solid foundation for 2026 and the following stages.
CK
Source: VITIC/haiquanonline.com.vn