Vietnam overtakes Thailand to become world's second-largest rice exporter

Vietnam has outranked Thailand as the world’s second-largest rice exporter in the first half of 2025, Thai PBS reported on August 3, citing the Thai Rice Exporters Association.

The association noted that from January to June, India exported 11.68 million tons of rice, an increase of 36.5% year-on-year, followed by Vietnam’s 4.72 million tons, up 3.6%.

Thailand saw 3.73 million tons exported, down 27.3%; Pakistan’s 2.76 million tons, down 20.2%; and the U.S.'s 1.4 million tons, down 23.5%.

Vietnam sees rise in export volume, drop in value

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the country exported an estimated 750,000 tons of rice in July 2025, with $366.1 million in revenue.

This brought total rice exports for the first seven months of the year to about 5.5 million tons, generating $2.81 billion - a 3.1% increase in volume but a significant 15.9% decline in value compared to the same period in 2024.

The drop in revenue is attributed to lower average export prices. In the first seven months, Vietnam’s average export price fell to $514 per ton, down 18.4% from a year earlier.

The Philippines remained Vietnam’s largest buyer, accounting for 42.6% of total export turnover, though the value to this market dropped 13.5% in the first half of the year.

In contrast, several African markets recorded impressive growth. Exports to Ghana soared by 53.5%, while shipments to Côte d’Ivoire nearly doubled, up 96.6%.

Among Vietnam's top 15 rice export markets, Bangladesh showed the strongest increase in value - a staggering 188-fold surge - while Malaysia posted the sharpest decline, at 58.5%.

Despite solidifying its position as the world’s second-largest rice exporter, Vietnam faces growing pressure from global price declines, which are squeezing export revenue and profit margins across the rice sector.

Vietnam's rice remains highly competitive

Do Ha Nam, chairman of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), acknowledged that the gap between Vietnam and Thailand remains narrow, but the result reflects the competitiveness of Vietnamese rice, which has maintained growth since the year's beginning.

Nam observed that although the global rice market is experiencing a price downturn and many exporters are losing ground, the Vietnamese grain has remained in demand in key markets such as the Philippines, Africa, and China.

He cited statistics as showing that Vietnam’s export prices over the past six months averaged $517 per ton - higher than the average price of around $400 per ton recorded by other major exporting countries.