HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam spent more than US$4 billion importing meat, meat products and fishery products in the first eight months of 2026, with meat imports rising 26.3 per cent year on year, according to the Customs Department.

Imports of meat and meat products reached more than $1.91 billion during the January-August period, up 26.3 per cent from the same period last year, while fishery imports stood at $2.13 billion, down slightly by 1 per cent.

Total spending on imports of the two groups therefore exceeded $4 billion after eight months.

India remained Việt Nam's largest supplier of meat and meat products, accounting for 20.29 per cent of the latter's total import volume. Imports from this market reached 120,800 tonnes worth $521.28 million, up 26.5 per cent in volume and 55.8 per cent in value year on year.

Imports of meat and meat products also increased in both volume and value from several other suppliers, including the US, Brazil, Spain, Canada, Germany, Türkiye, Japan and New Zealand.

Meanwhile, imports from Russia, South Korea, Poland, the Netherlands and Italy declined in both volume and value compared with the same period in 2025.

Việt Nam mainly purchases poultry, pork, buffalo and beef, along with various edible offal products.

Based on complete data for the first seven months of the year, fresh, chilled or frozen poultry meat and edible offal accounted for 36.49 per cent of Việt Nam's total meat import volume, making it the largest category.

Fresh and frozen buffalo meat accounted for 18.89 per cent of import volume and 29.28 per cent of import value, while fresh, chilled or frozen pork made up 18.82 per cent and 10.9 per cent, respectively.

Edible offal from pigs, buffaloes and cows accounted for 14.73 per cent of volume and 7.03 per cent of value. Fresh, chilled or frozen beef represented 5.85 per cent of volume and 13.78 per cent of value.

Other meat products accounted for 5.22 per cent of import volume but 26.01 per cent of total import value, statistics show.

In particular, Việt Nam imported 112,000 tonnes of fresh, chilled or frozen pork worth $185.5 million, up 27.1 per cent in volume but down 20.9 per cent in value year on year. The average import price stood at $1,638 per tonne, down 38.4 per cent from the same period last year.

The country's spending on meat imports in the first eight months of this year was nearly equivalent to the full-year figure for 2025, and far exceeded the $1.43 billion recorded in 2023 and nearly $1.8 billion in 2024.

In 2025, Việt Nam imported 978,000 tonnes of meat worth more than $2 billion, representing increases of 11.6 per cent in volume and 12.2 per cent in value from 2024, reported the Customs Department.

With 17 free trade agreements currently in force, import tariffs on many meat products have fallen to zero, creating favourable conditions for imports. Exporters from the EU, India, Poland and other markets continue to view Việt Nam as a promising destination.

However, the growing volume of imported meat is also putting considerable competitive pressure on domestic suppliers. — VNA/VNS