India's seafood exports hit record high of ₹73,890 crore in FY26; shrimp remains top export

India's seafood exports rose to a record high of ₹73,890 crore (USD 8.46 billion) in 2025-26, driven largely by strong demand for frozen shrimp, even as global markets remained challenging, according to the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA).

India exported 19.72 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of seafood during FY26, registering an all-time high in both volume and value, MPEDA Chairman P Jawahar said.

The United States and China continued to be the largest markets for Indian seafood exports during the fiscal.

Frozen shrimp remained the country's leading seafood export item, contributing ₹49,037.93 crore (USD 5.62 billion), accounting for 40.19% of total export quantity and 66.52% of total export earnings in dollar terms.

Shrimp exports rose 13.16% in rupee value and 8.64% in dollar value during the year.

A total of 7.93 lakh MT of frozen shrimp was exported in FY26.

The US remained the largest importer of Indian shrimp at 2.56 lakh MT, followed by China at 1.70 lakh MT and the European Union at 1.36 lakh MT.

Exports of both Litopenaeus vannamei and Black Tiger shrimp registered growth in volume as well as value, the statement said.

Frozen fish emerged as the second-largest export item, fetching ₹5,658.37 crore (USD 643.7 million), while dried seafood products ranked third with export earnings of ₹5,079.09 crore (USD 577.44 million).

Exports of dried seafood products recorded a sharp growth of 78.05% in rupee value terms.

Among cephalopod products, exports of frozen squid stood at 1.02 lakh MT, earning ₹4,493.8 crore (USD 513.84 million), while frozen cuttlefish exports rose 13.32% in quantity and 16.25% in dollar value to 67,157 MT worth USD 331.96 million.

Exports of chilled seafood products generated ₹622.31 crore (USD 71.27 million), while exports of live products grew 11.46% in dollar terms to USD 62.43 million.

The US remained the largest market by value, importing seafood worth USD 2.33 billion from India.

However, exports to the country declined 14.22% in dollar terms and 19.51% in volume during FY26.

US President's brutal tariff regime, now junked by the Supreme Court, had impacted India's exports market negatively.

Frozen shrimp accounted for over 93% of India's seafood export value to the US.

China emerged as the largest destination by volume, importing 4.90 lakh MT of Indian seafood worth USD 1.61 billion.

The European Union was the third-largest market in value terms with imports worth USD 1.59 billion, followed by Southeast Asia at USD 1.35 billion.

Japan and the Middle East were the fifth and sixth-largest destinations, respectively.