According to Vietnam Customs, cashew export turnover in December 2025 climbed to US$466 million, up 29% year on year. The strong performance in the final month pushed total cashew exports for 2025 to US$5.229 billion, the highest level ever recorded.

Record-breaking growth in both volume and value

The achievement follows a strong 2024, when Vietnam’s cashew exports exceeded US$4 billion for the first time, reaching more than US$4.3 billion. Within just two years, the industry has set back-to-back export records, with annual value rising by nearly US$1 billion year on year.

Export volumes also jumped to a new peak in 2025, totaling 766,585 tonnes, up 5.7% from 2024. The data suggest that growth has been driven not only by higher prices but also by expanded processing capacity and broader market penetration.

A major highlight of 2025 was a significant shift in market structure. For the first time, China overtook the United States to become Vietnam’s largest cashew export destination. Exports to China in 2025 are estimated at US$1.115 billion, compared with US$975 million to the US. The Netherlands ranked third, with exports valued at US$495 million.

Statistics from the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade show that during the first 11 months of 2025, Vietnam exported 159,200 tonnes of cashew nuts to China, worth US$1.024 billion, up 35.5% in volume and nearly 49% in value year on year. This marked the first time exports to the Chinese market exceeded the US$1 billion mark, far surpassing the previous record of US$746 million set in 2024.

Robust growth in China effectively offset a slowdown in the US market. Over the same 11-month period, exports to the US declined by 26% in volume and 17% in value, totaling 133,000 tonnes and US$887 million. Nevertheless, strong performance in China and several other markets enabled Vietnam’s cashew exports to maintain positive growth throughout the year.

Technological advances and raw material bottleneck

Despite record export earnings, Vietnam’s cashew industry remains heavily dependent on imported raw materials. In 2025, the country spent US$4.5 billion importing more than 2.9 million tonnes of raw cashews, mainly from Africa and Cambodia. As a result, the industry’s trade surplus stood at just over US$700 million.

According to the Vietnam Cashew Association (VINACAS), the industry’s performance reflects a long-term transition from labour-intensive processing toward a billion-dollar industrial model, with technology playing a decisive role.

Following national science and technology projects launched in 2010–2011 to develop automated shelling machines, the industry has steadily reduced reliance on manual labour, improved productivity and met stringent standards in markets such as the European Union and Japan, VINACAS said.

To address raw material constraints, in 2026 VINACAS and relevant ministries and agencies plan to strengthen the strategy of restoring and developing raw material areas in the Central Highlands and Southeast regions. Programmes focusing on replanting high-yield varieties, alongside proposals to tighten technical barriers on imported raw cashews, are expected to support longer-term stability.

In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has outlined measures to strengthen traceability, digital data systems, deep processing and national branding for the cashew industry.

VINACAS forecasts that the global cashew market will probably grow at an average rate of 4.6% annually between 2022 and 2027, driven by rising demand for healthy, nutrient-rich foods.

The goal of the cashew industry in the coming period is not just to secure US$5 billion, but to enhance value, develop deep-processed products, build a national brand, and affirm the sustainable position of Vietnamese cashews in the world market, stressed a VINACAS representative.

Cashew industry targets US$4.5 billion in exports for 2025

VOV.VN - Vietnam’s cashew industry has set an export target of US$4.5 billion for 2025, a 2.7% increase from the previous year, with strong first-half results putting the goal within reach, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.