Norway exported NOK 44 billion (USD 4.08 billion, EUR 3.73 billion) worth of seafood in Q1 2025, up NOK 3.5 billion (USD 324 million, EUR 296 million), or 9 percent, over the same period of 2024.
The high value is a new record for the country’s Q1 seafood exports, according to data compiled by the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC).
"The first quarter has been characterized by increased export volumes for salmon; high prices for cod, mackerel, and snow crab; and strong value growth to the U.S. and China,” NSC CEO Christian Chramer said. “In addition, the Norwegian krone was weaker in the first quarter than in the same period last year, which has also helped to increase the value of exports measured in Norwegian kroner."
A big part of the growth in value was a significant increase in salmon’s export value. Norway exported 285,163 metric tons (MT) of salmon worth NOK 29.5 billion (USD 2.7 billion, EUR 2.5 billion) in Q1 2025, an increase in volume of 16 percent and in value of 6 percent compared to the same quarter of 2024.
"The start of 2025 has been very positive for Norwegian salmon. Increased harvest volumes and more available superior fish have boosted exports to some of our largest and most important markets," Chramer said in an NSC release.
The U.S., Poland, and France were the largest markets for the species in the first quarter, and according to the NSC, the country had a lot of large superior-quality fish available.
"The favorable trend we have seen in exports to the U.S. in the first quarter is primarily due to the fact that we have had a lot of large superior fish available,” NSC Envoy to the U.S. Anne-Kristine Øen said. “Prices have been low, and more fresh than frozen fish has been exported to the U.S. during this period."
The U.S. wound up being Norway’s largest growth market and its largest market total for overall seafood exports. The U.S. purchased NOK 4.9 billion (USD 454 million, EUR 415 million) worth of Norwegian seafood in Q1 2025, an increase of NOK 1.8 billion (USD 167 million, EUR 152 million), or 56 percent, compared to Q1 2024. That total is also NOK 1 billion (USD 92 million, EUR 84 million) higher than the second-highest export destination, Poland.
“Despite a great deal of uncertainty related to the introduction of tariff barriers, growth in seafood exports to the U.S. has been very strong in the first three months of the year,” Chramer said.
While salmon was one of the biggest drivers of that growth, shellfish exports also made up a sizable chunk U.S. purchases. The U.S. imported 410 MT of frozen king crab in Q1 2025, which is 95 percent higher than the same period of 2024. In 2024, the U.S. only accounted for 31 percent of the export value of Norwegian frozen king crab, but in 2025, that value increased to 79 percent.
“Frozen king crab is enjoying good growth and prices are at a record high,” Øen said. “The loss of Russian king crab due to sanctions has meant that only small volumes of king crab from Norway and Alaska are now available in the market. There is reason to believe that American buyers have built up some stock before the closed season for king crab in the quota area in Norway, which runs from March to April.”
The U.S.’s high demand helped create a spike in value and volume for king crab and snow crab exports in March and Q1 2025. Norway exported 161 MT of king crab in March worth NOK 91 million, an increase of 363 percent and 287 percent compared to March 2024.
For Q1 2025, Norway exported NOK 398 million (USD 36.9 million, EUR 33.7 million) worth of king crab, a growth in value of 85 percent compared to Q1 2024.
Snow crab also saw big growth in the quarter, and Norway exported NOK 901 million (USD 83.6 million, EUR 76.4 million) worth of snow crab in Q1 2025, an increase of 82 percent over Q1 2024.
Norway exported NOK 392 million (USD 36 million, EUR 33 million) of its snow crab to the U.S. in Q1 2025, a 222 percent increase over Q1 2024 – making it the largest growth market for Norway.
Outside shellfish, Norway’s exports of cod reached NOK 3.5 billion (USD 324 million, EUR 297 million) in Q1 2025.
Norway’s fresh cod exports reached 13,993 MT worth NOK 1.1 billion (USD 102 million, EUR 93 million), a drop in volume of 24 percent but a much lower drop in value of just NOK 33 million (USD 3 million, EUR 2.8 million), or 3 percent.
“With a land-based industry in Norway fighting an increasingly tough battle for raw materials to produce fillets, salted fish, clipfish and stockfish, an increasing proportion of landings of fresh cod are going to the industry in Norway,” NSC Seafood Analyst Eivind Hestvik Brækkan said. “As a result, the export volume of wild cod fell significantly in the first quarter."
Fresh farmed cod exports, meanwhile, reached 4,710 MT, an increase of 45 percent, with the value increasing even further to NOK 312 million (USD 29 million, EUR 26 million), an increase of 782 percent.
Farmed cod made up 28 percent of the export value of fresh cod in Q1 2025.
“This is the highest export volume of farmed cod ever in a single quarter, 22 percent higher than the previous record quarter, which was in the fourth quarter of 2009," Brækkan said.
