In November, the trend of trade shifting toward Asia continued in Norwegian seafood exports.
Photo: Norwegian Seafood Council.
Compared with the same month last year, the Norwegian krone strengthened against the dollar and several Asian currencies in November. As Christian Chramer, CEO of the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC), explained, "This means that Norwegian seafood has become more expensive to buy in overseas markets."
As a result, the year-long currency effect, which so often benefits Norwegian exports, has also been reduced. This, combined with low export volumes, has led to a second consecutive month of decline in Norwegian seafood exports.
"This is the second month in a row that seafood exports have fallen in value compared with the same month last year. In November, even historically high prices were unable to compensate for the decline in volume for a number of wild-caught species," Chramer said.
Thus, in November 2025, Norway exported seafood products worth NOK 16.6 billion, which is a decrease of NOK 608 million, or 4%, compared to November 2024. However, so far this year, it has exported seafood products worth NOK 165.4 billion. That represents an increase of NOK 5.2 billion, or 3%, compared to the same month in 2024, a record year in which Norway exported seafood products worth NOK 175.2 billion.
According to the Norwegian Seafood Council report, if the value of exports in December remains at the same level as last year, total seafood exports in 2025 will exceed NOK 180 billion.
As for the main markets for Norwegian seafood exports in November, the top two spots were occupied by two transit countries, Poland and Denmark, while the U.S. ranked third, even as it continues to lose market share to Asia.
Despite being outside the top three, China was the country that experienced the highest growth in export value, with an increase of 23%, NOK 196 million, compared to the same month last year.
"The positive trend in the Asian market also continued in November," explained the NSC CEO. "China, Vietnam, Thailand and South Korea are examples of countries that now account for a larger share of total Norwegian export value. This is happening at the expense of Europe and the U.S.," he added.
In November, Norway exported fish from aquaculture worth NOK 12.1 billion, representing 73% of the total value of Norwegian seafood exports last month. Of this, NOK 11.4 billion—more than 94% of the total value—was accounted for by salmon, which nevertheless saw its value fall by NOK 472 million, or 4%, year-on-year. Volume fell by almost the same amount, 3%, with 126,191 tons of salmon exported.
Poland, France and the U.S. were the largest markets for Norwegian salmon last month, although, again, China had the highest value growth, with an increase in export value of NOK 165 million, 35% up, compared with November 2024. The export volume to China ended at 6,598 tonnes, 47% higher than the same month last year.
"Salmon is still the engine of Norwegian seafood exports," emphasised Christian Chramer. "At a time when trade is shifting towards Asia, it is positive that the Norwegian and Chinese authorities have developed a joint solution for the electronic exchange of health certificates with China. This will simplify our trade considerably in the future," he added.
The CEO of the Norwegian Seafood Council was referring to the bilateral agreement signed by both countries last month to develop a joint solution for digital health certificates for seafood products, which, as Norwegian Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Marianne Sivertsen Næss pointed out, will reduce processing times, strengthen traceability, and give the industry more predictable conditions for trade.
For his part, NSC fisheries analyst Paul T. Aandahl pointed out that although Norwegian seafood exports to China are increasing, there is growth beyond the Asian giant. "China continues the growth trend that the market has seen throughout the year, but is not the only one that is growing. The UK and Thailand are close behind," he said.
Thailand, in particular, is becoming one of Norway's most important markets for salmon and trout in Asia. Exports of salmon and trout together made it the second largest Asian market in terms of volume, thus overtaking established markets such as Japan or South Korea, whose growing demand for Norwegian seafood products in recent years has led to it becoming an independent NSC overseas office as of January 1, 2026.
"Thailand's appetite for Norwegian salmon does not appear to be stagnating. Thanks to good preference and competitive prices, Norway has increased its market share to over 73%. So far this year, the category for Atlantic salmon and trout has increased by 8%," said Åshild Nakken, the Norwegian Seafood Council's envoy to Southeast Asia.
And while this was happening in Asia, in the European Union, Norway's share of salmon exports was falling. With an export value of NOK 6.9 billion, in November 2025 this share reached a total of 61% compared to 66% in the same month last year.
"This is a trend that we have seen throughout 2025. In November, the share to Asia increased from 18% last year to 21% this year. This is due to increased demand and increased access to fish of sizes favoured in Asia," seafood analyst Paul T. Aandahl explained.
However, beyond the decline in salmon, as pointed out by Christian Chramer, the CEO of the Norwegian Seafood Council, even historically high prices could not compensate for the decline in the volume of several wild-caught species.
"Quota cuts are necessary to ensure that our wild fish stocks continue to be managed sustainably, but they also affect seafood exports. Lower volumes contributed to record-high prices for mackerel, herring and important cod products in November," he said.
As we saw in October, which was particularly striking after a strong September, November also saw a sharp decline in mackerel export volumes. Last month, Norway exported 21,655 tons, the lowest volume recorded in November since 2010 and represents a 51% decline compared to the same month last year. Compared to November 2024, the value fell by 11%, which amounts to NOK 144 million.
As for herring, Norway exported 29,556 tons last month, worth NOK 577 million. This means that, year-on-year, volume fell by 27%, while value fell by NOK 190 million, or 25%. According to the NSC report, the significant price growth that has characterised herring exports for several years has now stagnated.
Concerning the cod products referred to by the NSC CEO, in the case of clipfish from cod, export volume fell by 24% to 2,496 tons, while export value fell by 2% to NOK 451 million. In the case of stockfish, despite a 10% drop in volume, higher export prices contributed to November being the month with the highest export value of stockfish in a single month, NOK 182 million, 12% or NOK 19 million more than in the same month last year.
Similarly, with regard to frozen cod, although landings declined in November, there was a solid increase in export volumes, which, according to the NSC report, indicates a reduction in stocks in Norway. "The prospect of significantly lower cod quotas in 2026 appears to have been reflected in the export price," explained NSC seafood analyst Eivind Hestvik Brækkan. Norway exported 3,245 tons of frozen cod worth NOK 308 million in November 2025. This represents a 57% increase in volume, and an increase in value of NOK 139 million, or 82%, year-on-year.
In the case of fresh cod, this year has been the best November ever in terms of value. Norway exported 3,163 tons worth NOK 246 million, representing a 54% increase in volume, while the value increased by NOK 105 million, or 75%, compared to the same month last year. In terms of volume, it was the second-highest ever, surpassed only by 2016.
For fresh wild cod, compared to last year, the significant increase in catches also translated into increased export volumes, which grew by 47%, with the export value increasing by 68%. For fresh farmed cod, exports increased by 60%, while the value of exports grew by 83%. Farmed cod accounted for 51% of the value of fresh cod exports in November.
As for other species, in November, despite the decrease in volume, trout experienced an increase in value. Prawn exports, for their part, were characterized by limited supply, which is driving prices up. Meanwhile, limited volumes of snow crab are also being exported, pending the arrival of the first landings in December, following the resumption of fishing after the closed season. Finally, king crab does not appear to be affected at this time by the quota cuts mentioned by Christian Chramer.
Following the upward trend in value despite the drop in volume of other species in November, king crab also saw its value increase by 52% year-on-year, even though volume fell by 1%. The shift towards more frozen production mostly destined for the US market that we saw in October continued in November, when as much as 71% of the export volume of Norwegian frozen king crab ended up in the U.S.