South Korea's exports of fishery products grew 20.5 percent on-year in the first 10 months of this year, data showed Sunday.

Outbound shipments of fishery products reached $2.24 billion during the January-October period, compared to $1.86 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

Exports to China rose 48.1 percent to reach $540 million, and those to the United States and the European Union surged 24.2 percent and 39.4 percent, respectively. Sales in the ASEAN nations also increased 12.5 percent on-year, while those to Japan inched down 1.9 percent, the data showed.

By product, dried laver led the overall growth, with its exports rising 13.8 percent on-year to $560 million, and sales of tuna also jumped 23.3 percent to $500 million, according to the data.

The ministry pointed to growing popularity of the country's fish cake in the global market, as an increasing number of customers have sought healthy but still easy-to-cook food amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of end-October, exports of fish cake advanced 13.6 percent on-year to $41 million. Sales have moved up notably in the US and Canada, as well as in some Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia and the Philippines, the data showed. (Yonhap)