Durian - Vietnam’s king of fruits with $2.25 billion export record

Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, says durian export turnover could reach a record of $2.25 billion this year, 5.4 times higher than last year.

Citing data from the General Department of Customs, he told The Investor that the durian export value in November reached $91 million, an increase of 18% year-on-year but lower than October this year, mainly because durian in the Central Highlands region was sold while other areas have not yet reached the harvest stage.

In the first 11 months of 2023, durian exports reached $2.18 billion, 5.8 times higher than the same period in 2022, accounting for 42% of Vietnam's total fruit and vegetable export turnover, making it the king of fruit exports by some distance.

A distant second is dragon fruit (10.7%), followed by banana (5.2%).

Nguyen said Vietnam was likely to export about $70 million worth of durians in December, pushing the year’s total to $2.25 billion.

He expressed hopes that after the visit of Chinese General Secretary and President Xi Jinping to Vietnam, China will open its doors to frozen durians, allowing the fruit’s export turnover to grow strongly.

In July 2022, Vietnam signed an important protocol on exporting durians to China. In the fourth quarter of 2022, fruit export turnover increased strongly, with that of durian alone reaching $420 million.