In 2024, Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable export turnover set a record of 7.2 billion USD. This is an impressive breakthrough, marking an important milestone on the journey towards the goal of 10 billion USD in exports in the near future. Among the various products, bananas are currently the strong export item of Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable industry.
Specifically, Vietnam’s banana exports in 2024 reached over 380 million USD, an increase of 20% compared to 2023. Bananas have the fourth largest export value (after durian, dragon fruit, and coconut), accounting for 5.32% of Vietnam’s total import value of fruits and vegetables in 2024.
Japanese consumers love bananas from Vietnam.
Bananas account for more than 19% of the total area of fruit trees in Vietnam each year, with an area of about 155,000 hectares planted and a production of nearly 2.5 million tons per year. It is the main crop of Dong Nai province, accounting for more than 70% of the banana area in the Southeast region.
In Japan, bananas are among the tropical fruits highly favored by consumers. According to data from Japan’s Zuifru website, this country imported a total of 33,427 tons of bananas from Vietnam. It has helped Vietnam surpass Guatemala to become the fourth-largest banana supplier in one of the most strict markets in Asia.
Currently, Vietnamese bananas exported to Japan enjoy a preferential tax rate of 0% under the AJCEP Agreement since April 1, 2023; previously it was 3%. According to the Vietnam Trade Counselor in Japan, businesses and supermarket chains here wish to import bananas from Vietnam to replace Philippine ones. Because Japanese consumers believe Vietnamese bananas are of high quality and delicious.
Japan is a difficult market, so Vietnamese bananas must meet strict standards to be exported, such as soil condition, the processes of selecting varieties, caring for and harvesting, packaging, and so on.
Since the Japanese fruit market is the most difficult in the world, Vietnamese bananas successfully exported to this market can go anywhere else.