Viet Nam’s rice exports are projected to reach at least 8 million tonnes in 2025, positioning the country as the world’s second-largest exporter for the first time, according to Do Ha Nam, Chairman of the Viet Nam Food Association (VFA).

In the first seven months of 2025, Viet Nam’s total rice export volume reached 5.5 million tonnes, up 3.1% compared to the same period in 2024, but the export value was only 2.81 billion USD, down 15.9%. To achieve the target of 5.7 billion USD for the whole of 2025, the rice sector needs to make efforts to expand export markets, focusing on new potentially high-value markets.

Viet Nam has maintained its position as the third-largest rice supplier of Singapore, according to data from Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, cited by the Viet Nam Trade Office in Singapore.

The first shipment of 500 tonnes of Viet Nam’s low-carbon footprint rice set sail for Japan on June 5, marking the international debut of the rice produced under the initiative to cultivate one million hectares of low-emission and high-quality rice in the Mekong Delta (the one-million-hectare rice project).

Rice exports are receiving many positive signals from the market. Vietnam can export about 7 million tonnes of rice with a turnover of 4 billion USD in 2023. Although the volume is lower than in 2022 (7.13 million tonnes), the turnover is much higher (3.45 billion USD last year).