According to data from the General Department of Customs, Vietnam’s durian exports brought in nearly $2.77 billion in the first nine months of 2025.

In September alone, export revenue surged to $972 million, marking a 44.6% increase compared to the same month in 2024 and setting a new monthly record.

China remains the dominant market, spending $960 million to import Vietnamese durians in September. This figure accounts for 98.8% of Vietnam’s total durian export revenue that month.

By the end of September 2025, Vietnam’s durian exports to China totaled $2.59 billion, comprising 93.6% of the entire sector’s export value.

Beyond China, durian exports to other markets also witnessed significant year-on-year growth. Exports to Hong Kong rose by 83.7%, Taiwan by 65%, the US by 27.5%, Canada by 46.2%, Japan by 17.7%, and Australia by 33.2%.

Notably, durian exports to Malaysia skyrocketed by nearly 657% during the first nine months.

Speaking to VietNamNet, Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, noted that with October’s figures included, durian exports in the first 10 months of 2025 are estimated at over $3.2 billion, equivalent to the total annual revenue in 2024.

“In the Central Highlands, the harvest season is ending, and the industry is transitioning to the off-season crop from the Mekong Delta,” Nguyen said.

As off-season production is lower, exports in the final two months of the year are expected to add only $200-300 million more.

This means total durian export value in 2025 could reach $3.4–3.5 billion - a historic high.

This result is surprising, given the challenges the industry faced this year.

At the beginning of 2025, Chinese customs tightened checks on yellow O dye and cadmium levels in imported durians, forcing some Vietnamese shipments to be returned due to unmet safety and quarantine standards.

Many exporters had to temporarily halt operations to revise their procedures to avoid rejected shipments.

This caused export value to drop, and durian prices at the farm level plummeted.

It wasn’t until June that exports began to recover from the setbacks caused by cadmium and yellow O.

At that time, experts forecast durian export revenues would only reach $2.5–2.7 billion in 2025.

By mid-October, nearly 2,000 containers of durians from Dak Lak province were again delayed at warehouses, factories, and border checkpoints due to testing labs suspending operations for maintenance.

In response, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Hoang Trung met with the designated labs responsible for testing cadmium and yellow O residues in export-bound durians to help businesses that couldn’t complete testing and certification processes.

He instructed that all qualified labs with proper legal status, equipment, and staffing must operate around the clock to process backlogged samples quickly and ensure continuous exports.

Labs waiting for re-accreditation were told to finalize their documents and submit equipment evaluations promptly to receive support.

Following this emergency meeting, representatives from the Dak Lak Durian Association confirmed that customs clearance at border gates had resumed. However, they acknowledged the delay as a costly lesson in managing the production - testing - export supply chain.

Currently, Vietnam has around 148,000 hectares of durian cultivation, with this year’s output expected to exceed 1.5 million tons.

The Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection estimates that about 200,000 tons of durians are still available for export in the final two months of the year.

According to Dang Phuc Nguyen, despite numerous challenges, durian export revenue can still surpass the 2024 record thanks to higher yields.

Although durian prices have dropped compared to last year, the sharp increase in export volume has driven revenue to a record-breaking level.

Tam An