Norway seafood exports hold steady

Norway exported seafood worth NOK 17.8 billion (€1.65 billion) in September, virtually unchanged from the same month last year, according to the Norwegian Seafood Council.

The figure represents a decline of just NOK 27 million (€2.51 million) year on year, despite significant changes in export volumes, prices and currency movements.

Salmon remained the dominant product, with Norway recording its highest-ever monthly salmon export volume. Meanwhile, the stronger Norwegian krone reduced the value of exports when measured in Norwegian currency.

Total seafood exports for the first nine months of the year reached NOK 133.2 billion (€12.38 billion), up 2% from the same period in 2025.

“Norway has never exported a higher volume of salmon in a single month than it did in September,” said Christian Chramer, chief executive of the Norwegian Seafood Council. He added that salmon prices had increased in both euros and US dollars, but stronger currency conditions and lower exports of trout and several wild-caught species kept the overall value broadly unchanged.

Farmed fish accounted for NOK 13.7 billion (€1.27 billion) in September, representing 77% of Norway’s total seafood export value. Chramer said global demand for Norwegian salmon was increasing, helped by reduced production in other major salmon-producing countries while Norway maintained strong supply.

Wild-caught seafood presented a mixed picture. Export prices for cod, mackerel, saithe, prawns and herring all increased, but export volumes fell for mackerel, prawns, saithe and herring.

The US remained Norway’s third-largest seafood market, although exports there fell 4% to NOK 1.2 billion (€110 million). Fresh salmon fillet volumes declined for the eleventh consecutive month.

“The Norwegian seafood industry competes with countries that are subject to lower US tariff rates than Norway is,” Chramer said, warning that many Norwegian seafood companies are facing challenging times.

Exports of trout, mackerel and king crab to the US also declined, with both volume and value lower than a year earlier.