First six months of the year: Agricultural sector on the path of recovery and growth

Stable production, many positive signals

The agricultural sector maintained stable growth momentum with winter-spring rice output increasing compared to the same period last year, while the area and output of key fruit trees and perennial industrial crops both increased. Pig and poultry farming recovered strongly while the forestry and fishery sectors also saw many improvements.

In the field of cultivation, by the end of June 2025, the whole country had planted about 5.2 million hectares (ha) of rice, a slight increase compared to the same period in 2024. The harvested rice area is estimated at 3.33 million ha, with an output of about 22.7 million tons, an increase of 1.7% over the previous year.

Meanwhile, livestock production continued to prosper thanks to good disease control and favorable product prices. The national pig herd increased by 3.8% and the poultry herd increased by 4% over the same period, but the total buffalo and cattle herd tended to decrease slightly.

The forestry sector recorded impressive growth with the area of newly planted concentrated forests reaching 153.5 thousand hectares (up nearly 19%), the output of exploited timber reaching 11.2 million m³ (up 9%). Along with that, about 48.6 million scattered forest trees were planted.

Aquaculture production also grew positively with total output estimated at 4.55 million tons, up 3.1% over the same period last year. Of which, fish reached 3.28 million tons, shrimp reached 605.5 thousand tons, up 2.9% and 5.6% respectively.

Agricultural, forestry and fishery exports increase sharply

The export turnover of agriculture, forestry and fishery products in the first 6 months of 2025 reached 33.84 billion USD, an increase of 15.5% over the same period in 2024. In June alone, the whole industry's export turnover reached 5.93 billion USD.

Of which, agricultural products reached 18.46 billion USD (up 17.8%), livestock products 264.4 million USD (up 10.1%), aquatic products 5.16 billion USD (up 16.9%), forestry products 8.82 billion USD (up 9.3%). Notably, exports of production inputs and salt increased by 23.6% and 2.4 times, respectively.

By region, Asia continues to be the largest market, accounting for 42% of the market share, followed by the Americas (23.5%) and Europe (15.6%). Although African and Oceanian markets account for a small proportion, they both recorded good growth, at 99.5% and 2.7%, respectively.

At the national level, Vietnam’s three largest export markets were the United States (21.1%), China (17.6%) and Japan (7.2%). Notably, the export value to Japan increased by 25.5%, while exports to China decreased slightly by 0.7%.

In addition, many key commodities recorded outstanding growth such as coffee, rubber, cashew nuts, cassava, ..

Total import turnover of the whole industry in the first 6 months reached 24.01 billion USD, up 15.1% over the same period last year. All product groups increased, of which aquatic products increased the most (33.4%), followed by livestock (21.5%) and forestry products (19.4%).

By region, Vietnam imports the most from Asia (31.4%) and America (24.7%). China and the United States are the two largest suppliers, together accounting for 8.9% of the market share.

Orientation to promote export in the coming period

Faced with the challenges of the global context, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment determined to continue developing the industry along the value chain from production to processing, in order to improve competitiveness, added value and market development. The Ministry also proposed many key solutions such as:

Perfecting the institutional system and policies to support market development, remove bottlenecks, and build sustainable supply chains.

Implement development strategies for each industry, proactively adjust production plans according to market fluctuations.

Manage product quality, promote traceability and build Vietnamese agricultural product brands.

Expand and diversify export markets, focusing on China, EU, and Japan, promoting negotiations to open markets for potential products.

With positive results achieved in the first 6 months of the year and a clear strategic orientation, Vietnam's agriculture, forestry and fishery sector is facing the opportunity to make a strong breakthrough in the second half of the year and the following years.

                                                                                                                                                 Source: Urban Forum