KOCHI: India’s seafood exports have sailed into uncharted waters, touching an all-time high of $8.46 billion (around Rs 72,000 crore) in 2025-26, driven largely by the global appetite for Indian shrimp.
The country exported 19.72 lakh tonnes of marine products, the highest ever, despite facing multiple challenges in international markets. The performance marks a strong rebound for the sector, with exports growing 16.13% in volume and 13.44% in dollar terms over the previous year.
The real star of the export basket continues to be frozen shrimp, which contributed nearly two-thirds of India’s seafood export earnings. Every second container of Indian seafood heading overseas appears to carry shrimp, underlining its dominance in the sector.
According to Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) chairman P Jawahar, India exported 7.93 lakh tonnes of frozen shrimp worth $5.62 billion, accounting for over 66% of total export earnings from marine products.
The United States remained the biggest buyer of Indian shrimp, importing more than 2.56 lakh tonnes, while China emerged as the second-largest market. The European Union, Southeast Asia and Japan also remained major destinations.
Among shrimp varieties, L. vannamei continued to dominate exports, while black tiger shrimp posted the fastest growth, recording increases of over 40% in both volume and value. Out of the total L vannamei shrimp exports in dollar value, about 44.53% was exported to the USA ($2119.96 million), followed by 15.77% to China ($750.60 million), 13.49% to European Union ($642.13 million), China and the European Union were the biggest markets for black tiger shrimp.
While shrimp grabbed the spotlight, frozen fish retained its position as the second-largest export item by value. Exports of frozen fish increased in volume and overall earnings, although prices softened slightly in international markets.
One of the biggest surprises of the year came from dried seafood products. Exports of dried fish and related products surged dramatically, crossing 4.1 lakh tonnes, a jump of more than 62% in volume and nearly 70% in dollar earnings. The category has now become the second-largest seafood export segment by quantity.
The export boom also reflected in India's ports. Visakhapatnam handled the largest share of marine exports, followed by Jawaharlal Nehru Port, while Kochi emerged as the third-largest seafood export gateway, accounting for nearly 10% of export earnings.