The nation remained the third largest seafood supplier to the Republic of Korea (RoK) last year with the country’s seafood market share as part of the RoK’s total imports reaching 10.2%, according to statistics released by the Korea Customs Service.

Last year witnessed Vietnam spend US$6.47 billion on importing 1,595 million tonnes of seafood from 109 markets, duly representing a rise of 3.9% in volume and 12.7% in value compared to 2021’s figures.

The RoK mainly increased seafood imports from Russia and Vietnam, while reducing seafood imports from markets such as Norway, the United States, and Peru.

Vietnam was the third largest seafood supplier to RoK last year with 161,900 tonnes worth US$915.8 million, up 3.6% in volume and 15.3% in value compared to 2021.

In the first half of the year, the RoK’s seafood imports are anticipated to continue slowing following the trend in the last quarter of 2022 due to a global economic downturn.

However, the trend of seafood consumption in the RoK has changed in line with reduced spending globally, which will offer opportunities for Vietnamese seafood items to boost the export of seafood products to the market at reasonable prices.

VOV