India shipped 1,698,170 tonnes of seafood worth Rs 62,408.45 crore (US$ 7.45 billion) to overseas markets in the financial year 2024-25, with frozen shrimp continuing to be the country’s top exported item in terms of quantity and value, new figures from the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) confirm.
The United States and China were the main importers of India’s seafood in the period.
With regards to products, MPEDA advised that frozen shrimp earned India Rs 43,334.25 crore ($5.2 billion), maintaining its position as the industry’s most important export. In volume terms, this product accounted for a 43.7% share, with 741,529 tonnes sold to overseas markets.
India’s largest shrimp buyer, the US, imported 311,948 tonnes of frozen shrimp last year, followed by China (136,164 tonnes). The other top importers were the European Union (99,310 tonnes), Southeast Asia (58,003 tonnes), Japan (38,917 tonnes) and the Middle East (32,784 tonnes).
Frozen Fish, the second largest exported item, fetched Rs 5,212.12 crore ($622.6 million), while third-placed frozen squid earned Rs 3078.01 crore ($367.7 million).
In total, the US imported 346,868 tonnes of Indian seafood, worth over to $2.7 billion in FY24/25 – representing year-on-year increases 5.4% and 6.5%, respectively.
Exports to China totalled 396,424 tonnes worth almost $1.3 billion, and the European Union followed with 215,080 tonnes worth over $1.1 billion.
MPEDA also noted the top two Indian ports handling seafood cargoes were Vizag (Andhra Pradesh) and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (Navi Mumbai).
