Vietnam's pangasius exports navigated a challenging 2024, achieving USD 2 billion in export turnover with steady, albeit slow, growth. Shifts in consumer preferences, market adjustments, and fluctuations in geopolitical factors, including conflicts, freight rates, and tariffs, presented unavoidable obstacles in the current climate.
However, the paramount factor enabling a product to maintain a strong market presence and earn consumer trust remains high quality coupled with reasonable pricing. High-quality finished products stem from sound production and processing procedures adhering to food safety and hygiene standards. To achieve this, harvested pangasius must meet size requirements and be disease-free before entering processing plants. Healthy and carefully selected fingerlings, raised in optimal conditions, determine the final product quality.
The average farming period for pangasius is 10 months, with fish reaching a size of 0.7-1.5 kg/fish, meeting commercial pangasius standards. This extended farming period requires patience, meticulous care, close monitoring of the fish stock, and prompt detection and isolation of diseased fish to ensure sufficient output for processing, production, and export. Thus, farmers are a crucial driving force for increased production and exports. Profitable farming incentivizes expansion of ponds, mitigating the issue of idle ponds.
2025 is considered a pivotal year for Vietnam's seafood export sector, with Vietnamese farmers and fishermen as the core driving force. 2025 also promises to be a year of new milestones for pangasius exports.
Regarding consumption markets, China & Hong Kong remain the leading destinations for Vietnamese pangasius exports. In December 2024 alone, pangasius exports to this market reached over USD 52 million, a 19% increase year-on-year. Cumulative pangasius exports to China & Hong Kong for the entire year 2024 reached over USD 580 million, a slight 1.3% increase compared to 2023.
The US continues to hold second place, after China, among the largest importers of Vietnamese pangasius. In the final month of 2024, pangasius exports to the US reached nearly USD 28 million, a 40% increase compared to December 2023.
Pangasius exports to the CPTPP bloc also recorded 10% growth in 2024, reaching over USD 274 million. Within the bloc, Mexico remains the leading importer of pangasius from Vietnam. In 2024, pangasius exports to Mexico reached USD 76 million, a 4% increase compared to 2023.
Pangasius exports to the EU in the final month of 2024 also reached nearly USD 16 million, an 18% increase compared to December 2023. The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and Spain are among the top importers of Vietnamese pangasius within the bloc. However, unlike other countries, pangasius exports to Germany alone witnessed a 2% decrease in 2024, with a value of over USD 37 million.
Furthermore, pangasius export turnover to some other markets also achieved positive results and recorded positive growth, such as Brazil with a 15% increase, Thailand with a 4% increase, and Colombia with a 36% increase.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnamese seafood exports recorded impressive growth, generating nearly 6 billion USD in revenue during the first six months of the year, up 13% compared with the same period last year.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Fishermen in Ha Tinh are gradually overcoming difficulties to maintain the efficiency of seafood exploitation. In the first six months of 2026, the entire province achieved a production of more than 23,000 tons of seafood, worth more than 1,200 billion VND.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) June 2026 brought encouraging signs for Vietnam's tuna exports, with export value rising 20% year-on-year to nearly USD 72 million. However, this increase has yet to offset the prolonged slowdown seen in key markets such as the European Union (EU), where import demand remains weak. The outlook for the second half of the year is expected to become more challenging as freight rates continue to climb.
(vasep.com.vn) As part of the Vietnam Fisheries International Exhibition (Vietfish 2026), the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), in collaboration with the Agency for Domestic Market Management and Development under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, will organize the Domestic Seafood Supply–Demand Matching Program on the morning of August 20, 2026, at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC), Ho Chi Minh City. The program aims to foster direct business connections between Vietnamese seafood producers and processors and domestic distributors, retailers, and foodservice channels.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The Cooking Show will be one of the most engaging experiential highlights of Vietfish 2026. Taking place over three days, from August 19–21, 2026, at Hall B1, SECC, Ho Chi Minh City, the event will offer visitors a vibrant culinary space where Vietnamese seafood is showcased through its flavors, stories, and real-life culinary applications.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam's pangasius exports reached USD 205 million in June 2026, up 5% compared with the same month in 2025. Cumulative export value for the first six months of the year totaled USD 1.1 billion, an increase of 12% year-on-year. Growth was primarily driven by strong demand from China and CPTPP markets, while exports to the United States and Brazil continued to decline.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the first six months of 2026, Ha Tinh province continued to implement comprehensive solutions to combat IUU fishing; strictly manage the fishing fleet, control fishing vessels entering and leaving ports, operate vessel tracking devices, trace the origin of seafood, and severely punish violations.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam's tilapia exports reached USD 7 million in June 2026, down 32% compared with the same month in 2025. Nevertheless, thanks to strong growth in the first five months of the year, cumulative tilapia exports in the first half of 2026 totaled USD 69 million, up 67% year on year.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Sa Giang Import-Export Joint Stock Company, a member of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), has been honored with the "Famous Brand - Competitive Vietnamese Brand 2026" certification at an award ceremony organized by the Vietnam Intellectual Property Association (VIPA).
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) China imported nearly $1.4 billion worth of Vietnamese seafood in the first half of the year, a 40% increase compared to the same period last year, surpassing the US to become the largest export market for the industry.
VASEP - HIỆP HỘI CHẾ BIẾN VÀ XUẤT KHẨU THỦY SẢN VIỆT NAM
Chịu trách nhiệm: Ông Nguyễn Hoài Nam - Phó Tổng thư ký Hiệp hội
Đơn vị vận hành trang tin điện tử: Trung tâm VASEP.PRO
Trưởng Ban Biên tập: Bà Phùng Thị Kim Thu
Giấy phép hoạt động Trang thông tin điện tử tổng hợp số 138/GP-TTĐT, ngày 01/10/2013 của Bộ Thông tin và Truyền thông
Tel: (+84 24) 3.7715055 – (ext.203); email: kimthu@vasep.com.vn
Trụ sở: Số 7 đường Nguyễn Quý Cảnh, Phường An Phú, Quận 2, Tp.Hồ Chí Minh
Tel: (+84) 28.628.10430 - Fax: (+84) 28.628.10437 - Email: vasephcm@vasep.com.vn
VPĐD: số 10, Nguyễn Công Hoan, Ngọc Khánh, Ba Đình, Hà Nội
Tel: (+84 24) 3.7715055 - Fax: (+84 24) 37715084 - Email: vasephn@vasep.com.vn