Hanoi, Sep 30 (IANS) Vietnam earned more than one billion US dollars from exporting 203,000 tonnes of pepper in the first nine months of this year, up 46.9 per cent in value year on year, local media VnExpress reported on Monday, citing the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

In September alone, the country's pepper exports hit 125 million dollars with an average export price of 6,239 dollars per tonne - the highest in the past eight years.

Experts predicted that domestic pepper prices are likely to continue the upward trend amid surging demand for the upcoming Lunar New Year, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the long term, Vietnam's pepper output is expected to decline in the 2025 crop due to the impact of droughts, VnExpress reported.

Vietnam's pepper export earnings reached 912 million dollars last year, according to the Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association.