By the end of 2024, Vietnam's squid and octopus exports are expected to grow again. However, the growth rate is not high, so it is not enough to compensate for the previous decline. Cumulatively, in 2024, the export turnover of squid and octopus reached 656.951 million USD, a slight decrease of 0.5% compared to 2023. Entering 2025, Vietnam's exports of this product group in January could not maintain the growth momentum as in the last months of 2024, down 15% compared to the same period in 2024.

Among 70 markets for exporting squid and octopus from Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, China & HK, Thailand, the US, Malaysia, Italy, Taiwan, Spain and Belgium are the top 10 markets in terms of export turnover, accounting for 95% of total squid and octopus exports from Vietnam.

South Korea is still the largest market for importing squid and octopus from Vietnam, accounting for nearly 40% of total export value. In 2024, squid and octopus exports to this market reached 260 million USD, up 5% over the same period. Exports to this market, after declining in the middle months of 2024, increased again in the last months of the year. The Korean economy grew positively again in the last quarter of 2024, so it had a positive impact on the demand for goods, including squid and octopus, in this market.

Along with South Korea, squid and octopus exports to China and HK are also growing well. Among the top 4 main import markets, this is also the market that recorded the best positive growth. After a slight decrease in the first half of the year, squid and octopus exports to this market grew positively in the last 2 quarters of the year.

Exports to the US are also very positive with an increase of 11.6%, reaching 22,968 million USD in 2024. Stable growth over the quarters shows that the US market has great potential for development, possibly thanks to high demand for imported seafood products.

Meanwhile, exports to Japan recorded a decrease of 8%, with a total turnover of 139.337 million USD. Vietnam's squid and octopus exports to Japan have continuously decreased in 2024. The nuclear waste discharge incident and the import ban from China during this period still had a negative impact on Japan's entire seafood import and export activities. This is the reason why Japan's squid and octopus imports from Vietnam decreased in the last months of 2023 and the whole year of 2024.

Exports to the EU also decreased sharply by 21%, down to 35.546 million USD. Among EU countries, the decline was the deepest with a decline in all quarters, while Spain showed signs of a slight recovery in the second half of the year.

It is forecasted that in 2025, the squid and octopus market will continue to be differentiated between regions. Demand from major markets such as South Korea, the US and China may remain stable or increase slightly, while the EU and Japan are likely to continue to decline due to consumption and import policy issues.

Fluctuations in input material prices and logistics costs remain important factors affecting the profits of squid and octopus exporting enterprises this year.

Source: VASEP