Download the data source
Fishing plays a crucial role in employment and economic activity in several EU regions – in some European coastal communities the fishing sector accounts for as many as half the local jobs.
Employment in the fishing sector tends to be concentrated in a handful of countries. Spain alone accounts for a quarter of total employment, and the three countries with the highest levels of employment – Spain, Greece and Italy – make up around 65%.
Aquaculture employs roughly 75 000 people, including part-time and full-time jobs in both marine and freshwater aquaculture.
The processing industry consists of approximately 3 500 companies. The mainstay of EU production is canned products and ready meals consisting of fish, crustaceans and molluscs.
Fisheries (2017) | |
---|---|
BE | 214 |
BG | 716 |
CZ (*) | — |
DK | 1 644 |
DE | 1 207 |
EE (*) | 460 |
IE | 2 608 |
EL | 20 542 |
ES | 29 203 |
FR (*) | 6 623 |
HR | 1 665 |
IT | 20 268 |
CY | 689 |
LV | 326 |
LT | 348 |
HU (*) | - |
MT | 719 |
NL (*) | 1 723 |
AT (*) | - |
PL | 2 484 |
PT (*) | 7 823 |
RO | 60 |
SI | 63 |
SK | - |
FI | 271 |
SE | 793 |
UK | 7 358 |
Aquaculture (2016) | |
---|---|
BE | 3 |
BG | 923 |
CZ (*) | 904 |
DK | 366 |
DE | 983 |
EE (*) | 34 |
IE | 1 027 |
EL | 3 482 |
ES | 6 534 |
FR (*) | 8 837 |
HR | 1 625 |
IT | 3 289 |
CY | 459 |
LV | 169 |
LT | 301 |
HU (*) | 1 274 |
MT | 256 |
NL (*) | 206 |
AT (*) | 171 |
PL | 5 256 |
PT (*) | 829 |
RO | 2 912 |
SI | 20 |
SK | 385 |
FI | 341 |
SE | 295 |
UK | 2 802 |
Processing (2017) | |
---|---|
BE | 1 373 |
BG | 1 490 |
CZ (*) | 741 |
DK | 3 153 |
DE | 5 885 |
EE (*) | 1 348 |
IE | 3 138 |
EL | 2 130 |
ES | 19 826 |
FR (*) | 11 021 |
HR | 1 672 |
IT | 4 568 |
CY | 14 |
LV | 3 125 |
LT | 3 744 |
HU (*) | 14 |
MT | 72 |
NL (*) | 2 227 |
AT (*) | 117 |
PL | 17 578 |
PT (*) | 7 415 |
RO | 1 006 |
SI (2) | 130 |
SK | 569 |
FI | 760 |
SE | 1 591 |
UK | 19 118 |
NB: Aquaculture figures include marine, shellfish and freshwater.
(*) Eurostat data as Member States did not submit data for the data call.
Sources:
For fisheries: Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF), The 2019 Annual Economic Report on the EU Fishing Fleet (STECF-19-06), Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2019, ISBN 978-92-79-79390-5, doi:10.2760/56158), JRC112940.
For aquaculture: Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF), Economic Report of the EU Aquaculture Sector (STECF-18-19), Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2018, ISBN 978-92-79-79402-5, doi:10.2760/45076, JRC114801.
For processing: Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF), The EU Fish Processing Sector – Economic report (STECF-19-15), Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2019, ISBN 978-92-76-14666-7, doi:10.2760/30373, JRC119498.