In December 2022, Vietnam's seafood exports reached $785 million, continuing a 13% decrease compared to the same period in 2021. However, thanks to continuous growth in the first 10 months of the year, seafood exports have reached $11 billion, an increase of nearly 24% compared to 2021.
Source: VASEP
After a decline of 18% in November, shrimp exports in December decreased by 21% year-on-year to $260 million. In 2022, the shrimp industry recorded a record of over $4.3 billion, of which whiteleg shrimp exports achieved $3.1 billion, black tiger shrimp exports brought nearly $570 million, lobster $278 million, the rest were river and other marine shrimp.
Pangasius exports brought in more than $2.4 billion, an increase of 52% compared to 2021. In December, pangasius exports also dropped sharply by 23% over the same period, reaching $166 million.
Although it also dropped 22% in December with sales of over $68 million, the tuna industry hit the $1 billion milestone for the first time. Cephalopod exports brought in $764 million, up 26% compared to 2021. Other fish products such as anchovies, scads, mackerel and marine fishes contributed a large amount of $2 billion in 2022, 22% higher than in 2021.
In December, although exports to most markets declined, exports to China & Hong Kong still increased by 17%, showing an optimistic signal about this market in the coming time. In 2022, the China-HK market brought in over $1.8 billion for Vietnam's seafood industry, an increase of 59% compared to 2021.
Exports to ASEAN countries still maintained a positive growth momentum of 27% in December. This market contributed $790 million to Vietnam's seafood exports in 2022.
Exports to the US dropped the most, 40% in December. In 2022, exports to this market reached over $2.1 billion, up 5% compared to 2021. Exports to the EU reached nearly $1.3 billion, up 20 %. Exports to this market decreased by 32%in December. Japan kept a stable level of imports of nearly $1.7 billion in December and the whole year as well, up 28%.
The CPTPP bloc contributes to Vietnam's seafood industry more than $2.8 billion in 2022, up 30% compared to 2021.
The world economic recession and inflation are causing the market's demand to decrease sharply. It is forecasted that exports in the first quarter of 2023 will not be able to keep the positive results like in 2022 and the market may recover in the second half of 2023. Therefore, in 2023, seafood exports may decrease slightly to about $10 billion.
(VASEP)
Read more: Seafood Industry Report
SEAFOOD INDUSTRY REPORT - 12/2022