Vietnam continues to affirm its position as one of the world's leading agricultural, forestry and fishery exporters, with export turnover reaching 62.4 billion USD in 2024.

In 2024, agricultural, forestry and fishery exports will face major challenges such as fierce competition from other exporting countries; technical barriers, increasingly stringent food safety standards and impacts from climate change.

However, with a strategy focusing on quality, added value and market diversification, Vietnam has not only achieved impressive results in export turnover but also affirmed its position as one of the world's leading agricultural, forestry and fishery exporting countries.
 

Export records of industries

In 2024, the total export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products is estimated to reach a record high of 62.4 billion USD, up 18.5% compared to 2023; the trade surplus continues to reach a new record of 18.6 billion USD, up 53.1%.

This is the result of efforts to transform thinking and structure of the agricultural sector towards increasing value, green transformation and the process of negotiating and opening markets for many key agricultural products, typically durian, coconut, bird's nest, etc.

Forestry continues to lead in export turnover among commodity groups in 2024. According to data from the Department of Forestry (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), the export turnover of forestry products in 2024 is estimated to reach a record of 17.3 billion USD, an increase of 19.4% compared to 2023. Of which, wood and wood products exports will reach about 16.3 billion USD, the rest are non-timber forest products. The trade surplus value of the entire forestry industry in 2024 will reach about 14.4 billion USD.

Mr. Tran Quang Bao, Director of the Forestry Department, said that most exported wood and wood products recorded positive growth rates in 2024. Leading in export turnover for the whole year were wooden frame chairs, followed by living room and dining room furniture; wood chips; bedroom furniture; wood, boards and flooring; kitchen furniture.

The United States continues to be Vietnam’s largest export market for wood and wood products, accounting for more than 55% of total export turnover. According to the Department of Forestry, wood and wood product exports to the United States have grown positively thanks to increased demand and reduced inventories in this market.

In addition, the shift in supply chains due to US trade protection measures against Chinese goods also creates great opportunities for Vietnamese wood products. In addition, the EU, Japan, and South Korea continue to be Vietnam's main export markets for wood and wood products. These markets not only have high demand, but also require products that meet standards of quality, design, and sustainability.

One of the key export industries that also made a major contribution to the export results in 2024 was seafood. Despite facing many challenges in terms of market, logistics and raw materials for processing, seafood exports in 2024 still reached an impressive target of 10 billion USD.

Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam, Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said that since the beginning of 2024, businesses and localities have focused on opening markets, in which VASEP has coordinated with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to open key markets such as the US, Europe, etc. This has significantly impacted export market shares, thereby achieving an export value of 10 billion USD.

Not only forestry and aquatic products, the export of agricultural products has achieved impressive results. Fruit and vegetable exports reached 7.2 billion USD, in which durian, coconut and tropical fruits grew strongly thanks to expanding exports to China and other countries.

Rice exports reached 5.7 billion USD thanks to increased quality and selling prices, maintaining the world's leading position. Coffee brought in 5.2 billion USD, impressive growth thanks to the added value from processed coffee and demand from the EU market. Cashew nut exports are expected to reach 4.3 billion USD, maintaining the world's leading position with deeply processed products.

Processed products account for an increasingly high proportion.

Looking back at the outstanding achievements of the agricultural sector in the past year, Mr. Nguyen Quang Hieu, Deputy Director of the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) emphasized that in 2024, Vietnam recorded outstanding success in exporting agricultural products with many key products achieving high turnover.

“Notably, the agricultural sector achieved a trade surplus of 18.6 billion USD, reflecting the transformation of product structure towards increasing value and quality. These results affirm the strong, sustainable development and international competitiveness of Vietnamese agricultural products,” said Mr. Hieu.

In 2024, Vietnam achieved many successes in expanding its agricultural, forestry and fishery export markets, making an important contribution to the country's overall export turnover. In addition to consolidating traditional markets such as the United States, the EU, Japan, South Korea and China, Vietnam has made efforts to exploit new markets in the Middle East, Africa, South America and South Asia. These are potential regions with increasing demand for high-quality products such as rice, coffee, durian, pangasius and shrimp.

In particular, the application of traceability technology, international standards such as GlobalGAP, ASC, MSC and certification of legal wood origin helps Vietnamese products increase their competitive value and create trust with international consumers.

The important shift in agricultural, forestry and fishery exports is that value-added processed products such as canned fruits, frozen seafood and processed wood are increasingly accounting for a large proportion of exports, meeting the high-end consumption trend in developed countries. In addition, organic and environmentally friendly products have also recorded strong growth, thanks to meeting the strict requirements of the EU and US markets.

In 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and enterprises actively organized international fairs, product promotion and trade promotion programs, thereby introducing key agricultural products such as rice, coffee, durian, cashew nuts and processed seafood. E-commerce platforms and digital technology were utilized to expand consumption channels, helping small and medium enterprises easily access global markets.

2025 is considered a year of great opportunities but also great challenges. Mr. Ngo Xuan Nam, Deputy Director of the Vietnam SPS Office (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) emphasized: "We have achieved a record, there is a breakthrough, but how to develop sustainably. With the goal of Vietnam becoming the kitchen of the world, we have tried to increase output but cannot forget about quality, these two issues must always be maintained in parallel."

According to Mr. Nam, farmers - the direct production force - need to pay special attention to quality because the world trend is to pay more and more attention to quality and food hygiene and safety./.