India achieved its highest seafood exports on record during the financial year 2025-26, exporting 19,72,018 metric tonnes (MT) of marine products worth ₹73,890.46 crore (USD 8.46 billion). The performance came despite difficult conditions in the global market.
India's Seafood Exports Hit All-Time High of 74,000 Crore
— PIB India (@PIB_India) July 7, 2026
Despite challenging global market conditions, India exported 19.72 Lakh metric tonnes of seafood valued at 73,890.46 crore during the 2025-26 fiscal year. This marks a record high in terms of both volume and value. The… pic.twitter.com/FRXQazz34B
Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) Chairman Shri P. Jawahar, IAS, said the country recorded an all-time high in both export quantity and export value.
US leads in value; China tops in volume
The United States remained India’s biggest seafood buyer in terms of export value. During the year, India exported 2,79,193 MT of seafood to the US, valued at ₹20,263.27 crore (USD 2,328.74 million). However, shipments to the US fell by 10.82 % in rupee value, 14.22 % in dollar value and 19.51 % in volume compared to the previous year. Frozen shrimp made up 93.55 % of the total value of seafood exports to the US.
China continued to be the largest destination in terms of quantity, importing 4,90,369 MT of Indian seafood worth USD 1,611.32 million.
The European Union was the third-largest market in value terms, with imports of 2,97,518 MT worth USD 1,592.09 million. Southeast Asia imported 4,51,756 MT valued at USD 1,348.97 million, followed by Japan with 1,05,228 MT worth USD 452.91 million. The Middle East imported 76,743 MT of seafood valued at USD 283 million.
Shrimp remains the backbone of seafood exports
Frozen shrimp continued to dominate India’s seafood exports during FY 2025-26. The country exported 7,92,647 MT of frozen shrimp, earning ₹49,037.93 crore (USD 5,624.48 million). It accounted for 40.19 % of the total seafood export volume and 66.52 % of total export earnings in US dollar terms.
Shrimp exports grew by 13.16 % in rupee value and 8.64 % in dollar value over the previous year. Exports of both Litopenaeus vannamei (L. vannamei) shrimp and Black Tiger shrimp also increased in terms of quantity and value.
The US remained the biggest importer of Indian frozen shrimp with purchases of 2,56,128 MT. China imported 1,69,505 MT, followed by the European Union at 1,35,599 MT. Southeast Asia bought 83,810 MT, Japan imported 40,776 MT, the Middle East purchased 30,478 MT, while other countries together imported 76,351 MT.
Other seafood products register healthy growth
Frozen fish was the second-largest export item, generating ₹5,658.37 crore (USD 643.70 million).
Dried seafood products secured the third position with exports worth ₹5,079.09 crore (USD 577.44 million). This segment recorded a strong 78.05 % growth in rupee value during the year.
Frozen squid exports reached 1,02,060 MT and earned ₹4,493.80 crore (USD 513.84 million). Frozen cuttlefish also showed positive growth, with exports rising by 13.32 % in quantity and 16.25 % in dollar value. India exported 67,157 MT of frozen cuttlefish valued at USD 331.96 million.
Chilled seafood exports were worth ₹622.31 crore (USD 71.27 million), while live seafood exports grew by 11.46 % in dollar value to reach USD 62.43 million.
Vizag, JNPT and Kochi handle the maximum shipments
Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and Kochi emerged as the three busiest ports for seafood exports during FY 2025-26, handling the highest volume of marine product shipments from the country.
This version follows a different narrative flow by starting with the overall achievement, then focusing on export markets, followed by product-wise performance and port-wise highlights, while using simple, newspaper-friendly language.
