U.S. imports of Vietnamese tilapia surge 359%

VINAGRI News - In the first eight months of 2025, Vietnam’s tilapia exports to the United States soared 359% compared to the same period last year, with the U.S. accounting for 70% of Vietnam’s total tilapia export value.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), exports of tilapia to the U.S. reached USD 52 million in the January - August period. Data from the Vietnam Customs Department show that total tilapia exports (including red tilapia) hit over USD 63 million, up 174% year-on-year - surpassing the country’s annual tilapia export value over the past five years.

Vietnam’s tilapia exports to the U.S. surged sharply in the first eight months of 2025. Source: VASEP

The International Trade Centre (ITC) reports that the U.S. is the world’s largest tilapia consumer. In the first seven months of 2025, the U.S. imported over USD 1.1 billion worth of whitefish, up 8% from a year earlier. Frozen tilapia fillet imports rose 19% year-on-year, accounting for 23% of total whitefish imports. Tilapia has now overtaken cod and catfish to become the most popular whitefish in the U.S. market.

China, Indonesia, Egypt, and Brazil remain the leading global suppliers of tilapia. In Vietnam, however, the seafood industry’s traditional strength has been pangasius (tra fish), while tilapia exports have only begun to grow significantly since around 2020.

Thanks to surging shipments to the U.S., farm-gate tilapia prices in Vietnam have climbed from VND 15,000 to VND 36,000 per kilogram. Tilapia is considered a hardy species, resistant to disease, and well-suited for rotation farming in shrimp ponds, helping improve water quality for the next shrimp crop. This integrated shrimp - tilapia model has proven highly profitable.

In Tra Vinh province, tilapia farming has expanded rapidly in recent years, supported by investment from processing enterprises. As of June 2025, more than 2,300 households in the province were engaged in integrated shrimp - tilapia aquaculture, according to Thanh Nien newspaper.

NPK/ Vinagri News