Jeonnam's Seaweed Exports Reach Record High of $432 Million Last Year

Seaweed Exports Have Grown Significantly Every Year Since 2021
Total Seafood Product Exports Reach 549 Million Dollars

Last year, the seaweed export value from Jeonnam reached 432 million dollars, achieving the highest record ever. The photo shows a dried seaweed processing company. Provided by Jeonnam Province.

Jeonnam Province announced on January 24 that the export value of seaweed in 2025 reached 432 million dollars, achieving the highest record ever.

This represents an 18.5% increase from the previous year. Thanks to the strong performance of seaweed exports, the total export value of seafood products in 2025 also reached an all-time high of 549 million dollars.

Seaweed exports from Jeonnam have shown rapid growth, recording 203.7 million dollars in 2021, 191.6 million dollars in 2022, 249.4 million dollars in 2023, 364.4 million dollars in 2024, and surpassing 400 million dollars in 2025.

In December of last year, Jeonnam Province established a plan to achieve 700 million dollars in seaweed exports and began full-scale implementation of a comprehensive plan to foster the seaweed industry, aiming to secure leadership in the global seaweed export market by investing a total of 423.5 billion won by 2030.

Son Younggon, Director of Fisheries Distribution and Processing at Jeonnam Province, stated, "We will further enhance the export competitiveness of seafood products centered on seaweed, and establish an industrial ecosystem that links production, processing, distribution, and export, so that seafood from Jeonnam can lead the global market."

He added, "We will strengthen competitiveness through the establishment of the National Seaweed Industry Promotion Institute and the advancement of the industry, and systematically support overseas expansion of export companies and the development of high value-added products. We will actively pursue the goal of achieving 700 million dollars in seaweed exports and 1 billion dollars in seafood product exports by 2030." He also said, "By creating the K-GIM cluster complex and modernizing water purification facilities, we will structurally resolve the water shortage issue faced by dried seaweed processing factories."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.