The European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA) recently released its annual report on E.U. seafood trends, focusing on and analyzing finalized data for 2023, which found fish prices rose across the E.U. in 2023.
According to the report, titled “The EU Fish Market – 2024 Edition,” E.U. household expenditures on seafood reached EUR 62.3 billion (USD 65.4 billion) in 2023, representing a 6 percent increase on the previous year and continuing an upward trend that began in 2018. By comparison, E.U. households spent EUR 247 billion (USD 259.2 billion) on meat products in 2023.
This led to at-home consumption of seafood falling in the bloc, and trade both inside and outside the E.U. responded in kind by also dipping in 2023. The report outlined that the bloc’s trade of fishery and aquaculture products decreased 4 percent by volume, and 2 percent by nominal value in 2023.
E.U. seafood imports from third countries decreased 6 percent by value from 2022’s totals to EUR 30.1 billion (USD 31.6 billion), while imports by volume decreased 3 percent to 5.9 million MT – plunging both totals below pre-pandemic levels.
E.U. exports to third countries, meanwhile, totaled EUR 8 billion (USD 8.4 billion) – a 1 percent increase from 2022 – while exports by volume fell 3 percent to 2.2 million MT.
Intra-E.U. seafood exchanges amounted to 5.8 million MT of seafood worth EUR 31.8 billion (USD 33.4 billion).
The report explained that the 2023 trade figures marked a shift from the significant value growth observed in 2022, which was a standout year in the decade between 2014 and 2023. The report attributed the 2023 drops to persistent challenges in supply chains and the economic aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The species comprising 2023 European seafood trade varied widely.
EUMOFA found that the E.U.’s imports of salmon decreased 4 percent by volume to their lowest level since 2019, but imports by value increased by 28 percent to reach a 10-year high of EUR 8.4 billion (USD 9.2 billion).
Shrimp, meanwhile, fell 5 percent in terms of E.U. imported volume and 18 percent by value compared to 2022.
Warmwater shrimp, primarily sourced from Ecuador, comprised 54 percent of the import volume and 53 percent of the value for all shrimp imported into the bloc. Coldwater shrimp accounted for 11 percent of the volume and 7 percent of the value, with 86 percent of that type of shrimp imported from Greenland.
Largely due to Northeast Arctic cod quotas being reduced by 20 percent in 2023 following a similar cut in 2022, there was a 7 percent drop in overseas cod supply to the E.U. market in 2023, according to the report.
Northeast Arctic cod quotas were reduced by an additional 25 percent for 2025, making it likely that the trends will continue in the near future.
Tuna accounted for 9 percent of the total volume and value of fish imports into the E.U. in 2023, but its import volumes dropped by 12 percent by volume and 8 percent by value, respectively, compared to 2022. Skipjack accounted for 56 percent of the imported tuna volume and 52 percent of the value, followed by yellowfin, which comprised 29 percent for both.
Ecuador remained the E.U.’s main supplier of tuna, with a 24 percent share in both tuna import volume and value in 2023.
“[2023 saw] the European fishery and aquaculture sector continue to navigate the complexities of a rapidly changing world,” Charlina Vitcheva, the director general of the E.U.’s Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, said in the report’s foreword. “Despite these challenges, the E.U. remains a global actor in the production, consumption, and trade of fishery and aquaculture products.”
Though the report painted a murky picture for 2023, it predicted that 2024 consumption for the bloc to be on the rise compared to the last few years.
The E.U. is predicted to have consumed close to 10.7 million metric tons (MT) of fisheries and aquaculture products in 2024, which would be an increase on recent years and put it just behind China, India, and Indonesia in terms of worldwide seafood consumption by volume.
