Norwegian seafood exports heading for another record year

Once again salmon led the drive, followed by shrimp, with strong growth in sales to China.

As usual, it was the countries in the EU zone that bought the most Norwegian seafood. In total, Norway exported NOK 10bn (£714m) worth of seafood to this market in November.

“Europe is strong and had value growth in November. The USA regressed somewhat, while Asia is becoming increasingly important. Last month there was, among other things, strong growth for both shrimp and salmon to China,” explained Christian Chramer.

Norway exported 131,232 tonnes of salmon to a value of NOK 12.1 billion (£857m) in November

The value increased by NOK 619m (£44m) , or 5%, compared to the same month last year. Volume growth was 3%.
 
Poland, France and the Netherlands were the biggest markets for salmon in November
 
This is a record high export value for salmon in a single month, NOK 224 million (£16m) higher than the previous record month, which was in October 2023.

Germany saw the greatest increase in value in November, with an increase in export value of NOK 149 million (£10.1m), or 34% compared to the same month last year.

The export volume to Germany ended at 5,881 tonnes, which is 34% higher than the same month last year.

The growth in value for exports to Germany is mainly due to increased home consumption. There is both an increased frequency and a larger volume per purchase of both fresh natural and smoked salmon, says the Norwegian Seafood Council’s envoy to Germany, Kristin Pettersen.

Compared to the price of meat and other seafood, the price of salmon is perceived to be more even than in previous periods. Some 55% of Germans say that they are "flexitarians", meaning that they alternate between different proteins and reduce their proportion of red meat. Salmon is the closest substitute for meat, explains Pettersen.

China was the second largest growth market in November, with an increase of NOK 121 million, or 33%. In total, the Chinese bought Norwegian salmon for NOK 490m (£32m) last month.

Seafood Council analyst Paul T Aandahl said: “China got a boost last year after the corona pandemic, and the market was particularly strong at the beginning of 2023. This year, the import volume of Norwegian salmon has continued to increase, and this autumn demand has been significantly stronger than at the same time last year.”