Global Market Overview
The fish and seafood markets are a small subsector of the food industry that can be divided into 3 segments: fresh fish, fresh seafood, and processed fish and seafood. Fresh fish include any edible fish (i.e. salmon, tuna) that have been farmed, harvested, or caught directly from the freshwater, the sea, or the ocean and are fresh, chilled, or frozen. Fresh seafood includes crustaceans (i.e. crab, lobster, shrimp) and mollusks (i.e clams, mussels, oysters) that have been obtained and presented in the same fashion as fresh fish. Processed fish and seafood includes all fish and seafood that have been prepared for human consumption by being smoked, dried, canned, salted, pickled, fermented, cured, or receiving chemical preservatives.
The global fish and seafood market is currently valued at an estimate of $676.20 billion in 2024 and is predicted to grow at an annual rate of 6.54% (CAGR 2024 – 2028). According to Statista, the top 5 countries that generate the most revenue from fish and seafood are China ($97BUSD), India ($57B USD), Japan ($57B USD), the United States ($31B USD), and Indonesia ($30B USD).
Key Trends
The fish and seafood market are seeing major growth as it faces numerous economic, sociocultural, and technological related trends. To start, there’s been a huge rise in demand because of population growth, especially in urban areas. Even though prices are increasing due to slow production, rising incomes of the urban population have resulted in them having a lot of disposable income. This gives them the ability to afford and keep up with these high prices, as they are too busy to cook at home, so they will typically eat out or prepare processed/ready-to-cook seafood products.
Furthermore, increasing health concerns and shifts in people’s dietary preferences have also contributed to market growth. Health-conscious individuals are adopting protein-rich diets and becoming pescatarians. They recognize that strictly consuming fish, seafood, and vegetables can provide their body with significant vitamins and minerals. For example, fish are concentrated with omega-3 fatty acids, which have many heart and brain-boosting benefits. Also, fish processing facilities are using high-pressure processing (HPP) technology to improve operational efficiency. By maintaining the freshness, flavor, color, texture, and nutritional value of the processed fish, HPP effectively eliminates germs and increases the shelf life of the fish by two to four times.
These trends have caused fish to be considered the largest category of animal protein consumption in the world, as estimated by FAO. The FAO reports that the estimated global consumption of fish in 2022 was 161 million metric tons. In addition, according to the “Agricultural Outlook 2023-2032” , a report created by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), global fish consumption per capita was 20.4 kg in 2020-22 and is expected to increase by 3.92% to 21.2 kg in 2032.
Top Importers & Exporters
According to ReportLinker, the top 10 import markets for seafood in 2020, in $ billion USD, was the United States ($18.7B), Japan ($11B), China ($10.4B), Spain ($6.3B), France ($5.4B), Sweden ($5.1B), Italy ($4.8B), Germany ($4.5B), South Korea ($4B), and Thailand ($3.6B).
According to Statista, the top 10 importers of fish and fishery products in 2020, in billions of US dollars, were the EU ($56.5), the United States ($22.4), China ($21.5), Japan ($13.8), South Korea ($5.4), Thailand ($3.4), Canada ($3.1), Russia ($2), Taiwan ($1.7), and Vietnam ($1.7).
Statista also reports that the top 10 exporting countries of fish and fishery products in 2020, in billions of US dollars, were the EU ($36.2) , China ($20.8) , Norway ($11.9) , Vietnam ($8.1), Chile ($6.7), India ($6.2), Thailand ($5.8), the United States ($5.5), Canada ($5.5), and Ecuador ($5.4).
US Market Overview
The United States is the largest importer of seafood and second largest importer of fish and fishery products. The US fish and seafood market is valued at $30.63B USD in 2024 and is expected to grow annually at a rate of 3.9% (CAGR 2024 – 2028). According to the FAO, the average U.S. citizen consumed 22.45kg (49.5 pounds) of fish and seafood in 2020. In 2023, fish held the largest share of market sales in the USA at 910.8k tonnes and were predicted to have a growth rate pf 1.3% (CAGR 2023 – 2028). In contrast, according to Euromonitor International, crustaceans are the fastest growing segment as they are projected to grow at an annual rate of 1.6% (CAGR 2023 – 2028) but currently hold the second-largest share of market sales at 643.4k tonnes. All things considered, this information presents considerable growth opportunities for all fish and seafood exporters.
The United States is the largest importer of seafood and second largest importer of fish and fishery products. The US fish and seafood market is valued at $30.63B USD in 2024 and is expected to grow annually at a rate of 3.9% (CAGR 2024 – 2028). According to the FAO, the average U.S. citizen consumed 22.45kg (49.5 pounds) of fish and seafood in 2020. In 2023, fish held the largest share of market sales in the USA at 910.8k tonnes and were predicted to have a growth rate pf 1.3% (CAGR 2023 – 2028). In contrast, according to Euromonitor International, crustaceans are the fastest growing segment as they are projected to grow at an annual rate of 1.6% (CAGR 2023 – 2028) but currently hold the second-largest share of market sales at 643.4k tonnes.[3] All things considered, this information presents considerable growth opportunities for all fish and seafood exporters.
