China’s lunar new year sees record salmon imports

Important statistics from China show that salmon imports, measured in whole fish equivalents, grew by 12% to 121,230 tonnes in round weight terms last year. Most of the shipments were in the form of fresh whole salmon, which accounted for almost 96% of imports.

Norway was by far the largest provider of salmon, with 46% of the total by weight – although shipments were 3% down on the previous year. Chile came second at 27.6%, but Australia is now an important contributor at almost 12%.

It would appear that the UK and the Faroes have been making a big effort to break into the second most attractive market for salmon after the United States. The Chinese authorities said supplies from the Faroe Islands and the UK (meaning Scotland) showed the highest growth at 114% to 10,480 tonnes and by 140% to 8,292 tonnes respectively. Totals from those countries still remain small, however.

Salmon fillet imports remain modest in comparison but they also grew substantially last year.

Frozen produce accounted for just over half of salmon fillet imports at 1,544 tonnes, an increase of 61.9% on 2023, while fresh fillet imports were 26% higher at 1,438 tonnes.

The Chinese New Year celebrations, which generally last until the end of the month are an important driver of demand for air-shipped large salmon in January.

This is clearly visible in the export statistics, says the Norwegian Seafood Council.

China imported 1,785 tonnes of fresh salmon in week 3 of 2025. No other country bought more Norwegian salmon during that week, the council adds.