Norwegian seafood exports to Asia have increased sharply. As much as 20% of Norwegian salmon exports have gone to Asia in the last three months, up from 17% in the same period last year.
Photo: Sigmund Bjørgo / Norwegian Seafood Council.
While mackerel took over salmon as the fastest-growing species in terms of value in Norwegian seafood exports in September, salmon regained its usual position at the top of the list in October. However, this was not enough to halt the decline in the total value of these exports last month. In October, Norway exported seafood products worth NOK 18.3 billion, a decrease of NOK 122 million, or 1%, compared to the same month last year.
"The main reason for the decline in the value of seafood exports in October was a sharp fall in the export volume of mackerel and herring. Most other major species saw an increase in value in October. For salmon, there was an export record for a single month, both in terms of volume and value, in addition to an increase in value for cod, trout, saithe and haddock," said Christian Chramer, CEO of the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC).
Thus, despite this slight decline, October was the second-highest month for Norwegian seafood exports, with Poland, the U.S., and the Netherlands as the main destination countries.
Specifically, Poland recorded an increase in the value of exports of NOK 456 million, or 23%, compared to the same month in 2024, while the volume of exports to the Polish market—a typical transit country for Norwegian salmon processing—reached 38,157 tons, 15% more than in the same month last year.
In the case of the United States, despite its second-place ranking as the final destination for Norwegian seafood exports in general, and Norwegian salmon exports in particular, the trend continues to be downward for Norway's flagship seafood product.
"In recent years, the U.S. has become an increasingly important market for Norwegian salmon, and in the first quarter of this year, as much as 11.5% of all Norwegian salmon measured in value was exported to the U.S. In recent months, however, growth to the U.S. has slowed. In the last three months, only 8% of Norwegian salmon exports have gone to the U.S.," explained Chramer.
However, as the CEO of the Norwegian Seafood Council also explained, at the same time as this was happening in the United States, exports to Asia have increased significantly. Up to 20% of Norwegian salmon exports have gone to Asia in the last three months, compared to 17% in the same period last year.
"Strong growth in demand in China, as well as tariffs on Norwegian salmon in the U.S., have been some of the main drivers behind this development," Christian Chramer stated.
So far in 2025, Norway has exported seafood products worth NOK 149 billion, representing a 4.2% increase year-on-year, with Poland, the United States, and China as the main destination markets, but the latter being the market with the highest growth in terms of value.
"So far this year, seafood exports have increased by NOK 6 billion. The increase can mainly be attributed to a NOK 2.4 billion increase in the export value of salmon. In addition, snow crab contributed NOK 884 million, trout NOK 667 million, cod NOK 522 million, saithe NOK 518 million and haddock NOK 500 million," NSC CEO said.
In October, Norway exported 148,729 tons of salmon worth NOK 12.6 billion, with Poland, the U.S. and France as the largest destination markets. As mentioned above, this is an increase of NOK 816 million, or 7%, compared to the same month last year, while in terms of volume, the growth was 4%.
In terms of export value, this is also a record-high for Norwegian salmon in a single month, NOK 696 million higher than the previous record month, which was in November 2024. Much of that value came from sales in Asian markets, with China leading the way.
"Asia has increased its share of Norwegian salmon exports throughout 2025, and October also follows this trend," said Paul T. Aandahl, Seafood Analyst at the Norwegian Seafood Council.
"The reasons are complex, including increased demand, increased availability of large salmon and customs duties in the U.S., which are helping to shift the flow of goods towards Asia. And it's not just China that is increasing," he continued, "In October, we saw an increase in value to Japan of 10%, Thailand up 46% and Taiwan up 61%."
However, what China did achieve in October was the highest growth in value in terms of Norwegian salmon exports. With an increase of NOK 332 million, exports to the Asian giant were 92% higher than in October 2024. The volume of exports to China, meanwhile, reached 7,628 tons, 99% more than in the same month last year.
This was even though, as Sigmund Bjørgo, representative of the Norwegian Seafood Council in China, explained, Norwegian salmon has faced increased competition in China in recent months from other countries, such as Chile and Australia.
"The Chinese salmon market has experienced very strong growth this year and has grown by 44% as of the third quarter. At the same time as the category growth, the Norwegian market share has increased compared to last year," he said.
Meanwhile, still on the subject of salmonids, but now talking about trout, the NSC noted that the export price of trout exceeded that of salmon in October.
"With an average monthly price for fresh whole trout of NOK 80.09, the trout price surpassed the salmon price for the first time since October last year," said Seafood Analyst Paul Aandahl. "The biggest growth market for trout was Poland. We are seeing growth in both consumption and exports from Poland this year," he added.
The United States, Poland and Ukraine were the largest markets for Norwegian trout in October. Poland also had the highest value growth, with an increase in export value of NOK 68 million, or 295%, compared with the same month last year. The export volume to the Polish market ended at 1,134 tonnes, which is 290% higher than in October 2025.
In total, Norway exported 8,306 tonnes of trout worth NOK 712 million, which meant a value increase year-on-year of NOK 98 million, or 16%. The volume growth was 18%.
October was also a good month for Norwegian cod, with increased catches contributing to export growth. For fresh wild cod, export volume increased by 49% to 1,135 tons, while export value increased by 79% to NOK 93 million.
Fresh farmed cod, meanwhile, saw a 44% increase in export volume, reaching 1,491 tons, while export value grew by 68% to NOK 109 million. Farmed cod accounted for 54% of the total value of Norwegian fresh cod exports in October.
In total, Norway exported 2,626 tons of fresh cod worth NOK 202 million in October. The value increased by NOK 85 million, or 73% year-on-year, while volume growth was 46%. Denmark, the Netherlands, and Poland were the main markets for Norwegian fresh cod last month.
"All three of the largest markets for fresh cod in October are typical transit and processing markets, where the majority is re-exported to other markets," said NSC Seafood Analyst Eivind Hestvik Brækkan.
"Poland was the market with the highest value growth in October, with an increase in export value of NOK 28 million compared with the same month last year. The export volume to Poland ended at 400 tonnes, compared with only 6 tonnes in October last year," he added.
Meanwhile, as far as frozen cod is concerned, the historic market change we saw in September, when Vietnam became Norway's largest market for the first time, continued. For the second month in a row, the Asian country was Norway's largest market for frozen cod.
Vietnam was also the market with the highest value growth in October, with an increase in export value of NOK 83 million, or 411%, compared with the same month last year. The export volume to Vietnam ended at 1,182 tonnes, which is 287% higher than in October 2024.
Like Denmark, the Netherlands, and Poland for fresh cod, Vietnam is primarily a transit and processing market for Norwegian frozen cod. Most of the product is processed and re-exported in the form of fillets to Europe and the United States.
"The reason for the strong growth in Vietnam can probably be attributed mainly to the United States' high tariffs against China. Both China and Vietnam export a lot of frozen cod fillets to the U.S., and the tariffs for imports from Vietnam to the U.S. have been lower than for imports from China for several months. This has helped to make Vietnam more competitive as a producer for the U.S. market, and increased Vietnam's demand for Norwegian cod to produce frozen cod fillets," Brækkan explained.
However, the fisheries analyst at the Norwegian Seafood Council also warned that the reduction in tariffs on imports to the U.S. from China announced at the end of October could result in a shift in favour of China, at the expense of Vietnam, as a destination market for Norwegian frozen cod in the future.
