Salmonids lose second place on the list of Chile's export products
According to figures from the Chilean customs service, the sector represented 6% of the country's national export income in 2024 and fell to third place behind copper and the fruit sector.
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The Chilean aquaculture industry experienced a challenging year in 2024 and lost its position as the country's second largest export sector, behind copper, to fruit. Although salmon and trout are now in third place, Chile still exported 782,076 tonnes of salmonid products last year.
This represents a 1.4% decrease in revenue and a 0.9% increase in volume compared to 2023.
Significant reductions
In 2024, the United States imported 235,934 tonnes of Chilean salmon and trout valued at US $2.577 billion, a decrease of 8% in volume and 6.9% in value from the previous year. Japan, on the other hand, increased its imports of Chilean salmonids by 16.4% in value and 14.8% in volume, importing a total of 157,444 tonnes valued at US $1.085 billion.
Exports to China and Russia, however, reduced significantly in both volume and value, with decreases of up to 34.5% in the value of exports to Russia. Meanwhile, Brazil showed a positive development with an increase of 7.8% in volume and 10.2% in value.
Arturo Clément, president of SalmonChile, emphasised that the sector is still a key player, but points to the need for better regulations and legal certainty to strengthen competitiveness against countries like Norway. He highlighted Japan and Brazil as important growth markets for 2025.
