In this article, we will take a look at the Top Fish Producing Country in the World. If you want to delve deeper and know about other top fish producing countries, you can see the Top 15 Fish Producing Countries in the World.
One of the most consumed foods in the world currently is fish and it is no surprise that its popularity and consumption only seems to be increasing with time. The global production of fish increased from 184.6 million metric tons in 2022 to 186.6 million metric tons of fish in 2023, according to Sinay. The international trade of fisheries and aquaculture products however experienced a decline in 2020 as compared to 2018 due to the covid-19 pandemic. The trade generated 151 billion dollars in 2020, down from a whopping 165 billion dollars in 2018, according to FAO. In terms of value, the fish market was valued at a whopping 236.61 billion dollars in 2023 and is expected to increase to somewhere around 331 billion dollars by 2028.
The fishing industry plays a significant role in the global economy and employment. Almost 59 million people are employed by the primary fisheries sector. According to Yahoo Finance, globally, 600 million people’s livelihoods partially rely on fisheries and aquaculture. About 88% of the total fish production is used up in human consumption. The global per capita fish consumption is greater than 20 kilograms per year, as given by Food and Agriculture Organization. This increased consumption stems from stronger aquaculture supply and firm demand and reduced wastage. The high levels of consumption are also very closely linked to increased global fish production, which more than quadrupled between the years 1961 and 2017. Compared to this, the world population only doubled in the same period. This prominent increase in fish production can be traced back to continuous innovation and the emergence of aquaculture over the last 50 years.
However, historically, the growth in fishery and aquaculture industry has come at the expense of the environment. While aquaculture has a lot of potential to be a primary source of nutrition and feed the increasing world population, sustainability is highly important. Fishery resources have been declining due to factors like overfishing, poor management, and pollution. But at the same time the number of landings from biologically sustainable stocks have been increasing. In 2019, these showed a 3.8 percent improvement as compared to 2017. It is forecasted that aquatic food consumption will see a 15 percent increase by 2030 given the improvements in post-harvest practices, changes in dietary trends, rising incomes and urbanization. To cater to this increase in consumption, the supply will also rise to 21.4 kg per capita by 2030.
These figures reflect the positive outlook on the fishing industry, providing investors with a lot of reasons to bet on the best stocks in the fishing industry. One of the biggest publicly listed global seafood companies is Mowi ASA (OTC:MOWI.OL). In addition to Mowi ASA (MOWI.OL), some of the best aquaculture stocks include Aquabounty Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:AQB), Leroy Seafood Group ASA (OTC:LYSFF), and Bakkafrost P/F (OTC:BKFKF). Mowi ASA (OTC:MOWI.OL), Aquabounty Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:AQB), Leroy Seafood Group ASA (OTC:LYSFF), and Bakkafrost P/F (OTC:BKFKF) are based in Norway, U.S., Norway, and Faroe Islands, respectively.
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Methodology
There are two distinct types of commercial fish production. Capture Fisheries catch and sell fish from the wild, whereas aquaculture production is human-maintained fish populations raised for consumption. For the purpose of this ranking, we obtained the total fisheries production that included both, the capture fisheries production and the aquaculture production. The data on the total fisheries production (as of 2021) has been obtained from The World Bank.
The country with highest fish production is China.
1. China
Total fisheries production: 85,948,134 tons
In 2022, China retained its position as the world’s top seafood producer, with production projected to reach 67.5 million metric tons, a slight increase from the 66.9 million metric tons recorded in 2021, according to FAS. The growth in production is mostly attributed to the expansion of aquaculture, which is anticipated to rise by 1.2 percent year-on-year, reaching 54.6 million metric tons in 2022. China accounts for one-third of the world’s total fish production, which stands at 178.8 million tons globally.
You can see the rest of the Top Fish Producing Countries in the World here.
You can also check out the list of 15 Fastest-Growing Fast-Food Chains in the US here.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.