Norwegian seafood exports stall despite record salmon volume
Norway shipped 165,393 tonnes of salmon in September, more than in any month before, yet a stronger krone and a 67% fall in mackerel left the total flat at NOK 17.8 billion.
Norwegian seafood exports were worth NOK 17.8 billion in September, NOK 27 million less than a year earlier, even though the country shipped more salmon than in any month on record, the Norwegian Seafood Council said on 5 October.
Salmon did the heavy lifting. Norway exported 165,393 tonnes of it, 22% more than in September 2025, for NOK 13 billion, a rise of 15% or NOK 1.7 billion. That is NOK 659 million above the previous record, from October 2025. Farmed fish made up 77% of everything Norway sold abroad in the month, according to World Fishing.
Elsewhere in Norwegian seafood exports the gain was cancelled out. Chief executive Christian Chramer attributed the flat total to a stronger Norwegian krone and to lower volumes of trout and several wild-caught species. Council analyst Paul T. Aandahl credited favourable biological conditions through 2026: high survival, fast growth and plenty of large fish.
More salmon than ever, less of almost everything else, and a krone that takes back the gain.
Where Norwegian seafood exports grew and shrank
Poland remained the largest salmon buyer, taking 32,296 tonnes, up 30%. China took 11,420 tonnes, up 43%, worth more than NOK 1 billion. Spain passed 10,000 tonnes in a month for the first time, at 10,078 tonnes.
The United States went the other way. Chramer said September was the eleventh straight month of falling volumes to Norway's largest market for salmon fillets, and that many companies face difficult times. Total seafood sales to the US fell 4% to NOK 1.2 billion.
Mackerel fell hardest. Export volume dropped 67% to 17,286 tonnes and value fell 59% to NOK 925 million, as this year's mackerel quota cut worked through the season. A quarter of the Norwegian quota was still uncaught at the start of October, Aandahl said.
Stockfish hits a record NOK 483 a kilo
For kitchens, the sharper signal is in the dried fish. Cod stockfish reached a record NOK 483 per kilo in September. Norway exported only 181 tonnes of stockfish, yet its value rose 86% to NOK 69 million; Italy, the main market, took 82 tonnes.
Tom-Jørgen Gangsø, the council's envoy to Italy, said the market there is gradually shrinking as scarce supply and higher prices push buyers to substitutes, and that stockfish risks becoming a niche product in restaurants and retail. Clipfish tells a similar story: volumes to Brazil and the Caribbean so far this year are the lowest since 1996.
After nine months, Norwegian seafood exports stand at NOK 133.2 billion, 2% ahead of 2025. The third quarter, at NOK 48.8 billion, was up 7%, helped by a record August for Norwegian salmon. The rest of the year looks the same: more salmon than ever, less of almost everything else, and a currency that takes back what the price gives.
