Vietnam: African Swine Fever Update

In 2020, the African Swine Fever (ASF) epidemic in Vietnam caused a loss of about 86,000 pigs, equivalent to 1.5 percent of the culled pigs in 2019. ASF outbreaks continue to recur but most of them are sporadic, small-scale, and quickly contained. Official statistics show that the total pig herd in Vietnam, as of December 2020, was 27.3 million head, equivalent to about 88.7 percent of the pre-ASF level. Although the recovery of Vietnam’s swine industry is underway, it has not reached the pre-ASF level, as ongoing challenges with ASF remain. Vietnam’s pork production is predicted to continue to recover in 2021, leading to lower demand for imports of pork and pork products than in 2020.