Of which exports to the Philippines increased sharply by 57.85% to reach US$11.8 million, making it Vietnam’s second largest seafood export market in ASEAN.

However, Vietnamese seafood exports to ASEAN fell 14.57% in January 2023 compared to a year earlier to US$49.5 million.

The strongest decline was recorded in Malaysia at 39.31%, followed by Singapore (25.3%), Thailand (22.37%) and Cambodia (14.57%).

Although Thailand is Vietnam’s largest seafood export market in the bloc, export turnover to this market fell by 22.37% to US$22.6 million compared to January 2022.

At present, seafood exports to ASEAN account for 10.4% of Vietnam’s total seafood export turnover per month.

Fish and aquatic products are one of the main sources of protein for consumers throughout ASEAN. Indeed, the region's per capita consumption in 2017 reached 39.4 kilo per person each year, nearly doubling the world's average consumption of 20.3 kilo per person each year, according to figures released by the MoIT.

The bloc is considered a potentially-lucrative seafood market moving forward, particularly when the region’s demand for seafood products is forecast to continue to edge up by 51.5 kilo per person each year by 2030 and will reach 61.5 kilo per person per year by 2050.

Source: VOV