Uptick salmon exports, flat returns for cod and quarterly price increases have steered record half-year 2025 seafood returns by Norway.
According to the Norwegian Seafood Council on July 3, 2025, half-year seafood dispatches totaling 1.3 million tonnes earned 85.2 billion Krone ($8.45 billion).
Out of this, salmon topped revenue contribution at 57.8 billion Krone ($5.73 billion) after a modest growth.
Cod followed at 6.8 billion Krone ($674.7 million) due to a UK export boost, despite zero annual shipment value growth.
Snow crab led the export value growth curve by 100% year-on-year (y-o-y), before king crab (70%), mackerel (56%) and trout (20%).
Fisheries represented 27% value and 50% volume of all half-year seafood shipments, worth 22.7 billion Krone ($2.25 billion). While fisheries’ volumes declined by 9.2% half-year-to-half-year, returns notched up by 11%.
Salmon
According to seafood analyst Paul T.Aandahl, courtesy the Norwegian Seafood Council, the salmon export value grew the most in destination China.
Aandahl noted that China increased imports by 84% y-o-y, ranking sixth among Norway’s overseas markets for salmon.
In contrast, “Poland is still Norway’s largest salmon market, despite zero growth,” noted Aandahl.
He adds that a similar fall also impacted salmon imports in the second largest market, the U.S. Here, imports fell by -10% in June 2025 after an impressive run from January through May.
June 2025 generated 9.2 billion Krone ($912.7 million) or 5% more value from salmon exports than June 2024.
Cod
Cod meanwhile lost -10% in export value in half-year 2025 from half-year 2024 but still ranked second in seafood returns.
The Nordic country exported some 21,569 frozen tonnes of the pelagic fish during the past six months.
The UK market led cod’s value increase by 26% half-year-to-half-year, despite volumes there falling due to quota limitations.
It therefore seems like robust shipment revenue from primarily salmon by Q2 2025 has reprised similar gains in Q1 2024. To learn more on how past half-year periods shaped the Norway seafood sector , skim the data below.
Norway Seafood Exports Statistics
The seafood industry of Norway is a behemoth that accounts for 2.3% of the national GDP, as of 2022. During that year, the sector generated 25.8 billion Krone ($2.3 billion) in tax and nurtured 86,000 jobs. This value creation owes to the large export sector of especially key fisheries like salmon, cod, trout, king crab, lobster and snow crab.
How big are annual exports of Norway’s seafood?
According to the Norwegian Seafood Company, volumes had risen to over 1.3 million tonnes worth 85.01 billion Krone ($8.4 billion) by mid-2025:
| Year | Total Exports [tonnes] & Annual Change | Export Value [NOK] |
| 2025 [projection] | 1,326,025 [4%] | 85.01 billion ($8.4 billion) |
| 2024 | 1,273,926 [-5%] | 80.56 billion ($7.94 billion) |
| 2023 | 1,342,622 [-3%] | 82.13 billion ($8.15 billion) |
| 2022 | 1,385,872 [-5%] | 69.99 billion ($6.94 billion) |
| 2021 | 1,457,105 [-] | 53.70 billion ($5.34 billion) |
Have Norway’s seafood export prices risen with export value in the 2021-25 period?
In the five-year period ending 2025, Norway has recorded continuous increases in seafood export rates. While they averaged 36.86 Krone ($3.66) a kg in 2021, by 2025 they were at 64.11 Krone ($6.36). They grew by 37% in 2022, year-on-year, 3% in 2024 and 1% in 2025.