In the first five months of this year, Vietnam's durian export volume increased by more than 10 times year-on-year, reaching US$526 million, surpassing dragon fruit to become Vietnam's highest export fruit.

Statistics from Vietnam Customs show that dragon fruit, which has topped the list of fruit exports for ten consecutive years, has an export value of only US$307 million in the first five months of this year, an 11% drop from the same period in 2022. Bananas, mangoes and jackfruit followed with exports worth US$172, US$116 and US$109 million respectively.

Last year, after China granted access to Vietnamese fresh durians, the export volume of Vietnamese durians surged. In 2022, Vietnam's annual export of durian will be 420 million US dollars, and dragon fruit will be 633 million US dollars. The rapid rise and catching up of durian is also regarded as a "miracle" by Vietnamese industry insiders.

In 2021, the export value of Vietnamese dragon fruit will remain at 1.031 billion US dollars, which is the main export fruit with export earnings exceeding 1 billion US dollars. In the same period, the export value of durian was less than 178 million US dollars, accounting for only 17% of the export value of dragon fruit. Since 2019, Vietnam's dragon fruit exports have continued to decline, falling out of the ranks of fruits worth $1 billion.

Dang Phuc Nguyen, chairman of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, predicted that Vietnam's fresh durian exports will reach US$1.2 billion in 2023, and it is expected to increase to US$2 billion in the next two years. Vietnamese customs data show that in the first five months of this year, Vietnamese durians were exported to 22 countries and regions. China is the largest export market, accounting for 90.68% of the total export value, with a total export value of 477 million US dollars.

However, compared with Thailand, there is still a big gap in Vietnamese durian. According to Chinese customs data, in the first five months of this year, China imported 535,520 tons of fresh durians, worth about 2.66 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of more than 90% and a year-on-year increase of more than 83%. Among them, Thailand is still the largest supplier to China's durian market, accounting for nearly 85% of the total import value, worth nearly 2.25 billion US dollars.

At present, 293 plantations and 115 packaging factories in Vietnam have been approved to export fresh durians to China, and another 400 plantations and 60 packaging factories are under the review process. Vietnam's durian exports to China still have great potential.