Norway exported seafood worth NOK16 billion (US$1.7 billion) in August 2026, indicating an increase of NOK1.9 billion (US$200 million), or 14 per cent, compared with the same month last year.
"Despite the fact that the Norwegian krone is significantly stronger than in the corresponding month last year, there was a historically high value for seafood exports in August," said Norwegian Seafood Council CEO Christian Chramer.
"The reason is primarily increased salmon volumes at higher prices and price growth for cod, mackerel, herring and saithe."
So far this year, Norway has exported seafood worth NOK115.7 billion (US$12.42 billion). This is a growth of NOK2.6 billion (US$280 million), or two per cent, compared with the same period last year.
Seafood exports to the United States have slowed sharply in 2026, and last month, the country increased its punitive tariff against Norway to 12.5 per cent. Nevertheless, in August, for the very first time this year, there was an increase in value to the US market.
"Although Norway has had poorer tariff conditions than several of our competitor nations, we have had growth in exports of salmon to the USA for two months in a row," added Chramer. "At the same time, the US is out of the top three list of our largest seafood markets. This is mainly due to the fact that other countries had a greater growth, especially for salmon."
In total, Norway exported seafood worth NOK1.1 billion (US$120 million) to the USA in August, which is a growth of four per cent compared to the same month last year.
The United States was Norway's fourth largest export market by value in August 2026. Poland was the number one market followed by China, the Netherlands, the US, and then the UK.
"Poland and the Netherlands are traditionally regarded as pure processing markets, but now we see that the growth in domestic consumption of salmon is strongest in these two countries, in addition to Slovakia and the Czech Republic," Chramer explained. "This is a development that we have registered for some time."
In August, fish exports from aquaculture amounted to NOK13 billion (US$1.4 billion). This accounted for a value share of 81.4 per cent of total seafood exports, which is the highest ever, according to the Norwegian Seafood Council.
Seafood exports to China meanwhile continued to increase. Salmon, haddock and Greenland halibut were the three largest species for this market in August, and for all of them, there was solid growth in both volume and value.
There is a record high export value for salmon in a single month, NOK19 million (US$2 million) higher than the previous record month, which was in October 2025.