Home > Business > Industry

Korea's fisheries output reaches record high in 2025 on rising dried seaweed demand

Published: 27 Feb. 2026, 16:08

Grocery store staff points at displayed seaweed products in Seoul on Dec. 14, 2025. [YONHAP]

Korea's fisheries output hit a record high in 2025, driven partly by strong overseas demand for dried seaweed products, the statistics agency said Friday.

Total fisheries output amounted to 3.94 million tons last year, up 8.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

In terms of value, production expanded 1.4 percent on year to 10.25 trillion won ($7.14 billion), also marking an all-time high.

Output in the aquaculture sector, which accounts for the largest share of total production, expanded 12 percent on year to 2.53 million tons, supported by an increase in cultivation facilities and favorable farming conditions.

Notably, the output of dried seaweed, called gim in Korean, surged 30.1 percent on year to 718,000 tons, amid growing overseas demand.

Coastal fishing also improved, with production rising 16.3 percent on year to 978,000 tons, boosted by larger stocks of mackerel, anchovies and squid, the agency said.

Yonhap