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Oceans and fisheries

The EU is the leading trader of fisheries and aquaculture products in the world in terms of value. EU trade (i.e. imports and exports) has increased over the past few years, reaching €31.2 billion in 2020. Norway, the United Kingdom, China, Morocco and Ecuador are the EU’s main suppliers, while the United Kingdom, the United States, China, Norway and Switzerland are the EU’s main customers.

The EU is a net importer of fisheries and aquaculture products, mostly frozen, fresh and chilled. Spain, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands are the leading importing Member States.

In 2020 exports to non-EU countries increased to €6.96 billion. Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain are the leading exporting Member States.

Trade between the Member States is very significant, totalling €23.25 billion in 2020. The main exporters to other Member States are the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain and Denmark. The main importers are Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.

Trade of fisheries and aquaculture products between EU Member States and non-EU countries (2020)
(volume in tonnes and value in thousand EUR)

  IMPORTS EXPORTS
VOLUME VALUE VOLUME VALUE
Pelagic fish 1 246 333 3 613 443 907 754 1 623 296
Salmonids 1 076 716 6 147 036 151 463 1 200 527
Other fish 1 828 396 6 981 613 822 815 2 386 440
Crustaceans 598 310 4 034 580 121 666 665 464
Molluscs 577 870 2 533 068 62 859 353 269
Non-food use products 824 720 897 162 500 848 734 413
Total EU-27 6 152 345 24 206 902 2 567 405 6 963 409

Source: Eumofa elaboration of Eurostat data.

Trade of fisheries and aquaculture products between EU Member States and non-EU countries – main suppliers (2020)
(value in thousand EUR and percentage of total)

Value of EU-27 imports from the main suppliers

Main suppliers Value %
Norway 6 410 680 26.5%
United Kingdom 1 739 687 7.2%
China 1 519 346 6.3%
Morocco 1 296 956 5.4%
Ecuador 1 240 983 5.1%
Iceland 1 017 935 4.2%
United States 839 043 3.5%
Vietnam 793 311 3.3%
Greenland 623 518 2.6%
India 605 972 2.5%
Russia 582 644 2.4%
Other non-EU countries 7 536 826 31.1%
Total 24 206 902 100%

Source: Eumofa elaboration of Eurostat data.

Trade of fisheries and aquaculture products between EU Member States and non-EU countries – main customers (2020)
(value in thousand EUR and percentage of total)

Value of EU-27 exports to the main customers

Main customers Value %
United Kingdom 1 683 325.82 24.2%
United States 644 177.67 9.3%
China 577 743.42 8.3%
Norway 560 139.51 8.0%
Switzerland 499 387.06 7.2%
Japan 341 056.65 4.9%
Nigeria 221 846.92 3.2%
Morocco 160 970.32 2.3%
Ukraine 147 749.09 2.1%
Egypt 137 146.36 2.0%
Canada 121 601.00 1.7%
Other non-EU countries 1 868 265.15 26.8%
Total 6 963 409

100%

Source: Eumofa elaboration of Eurostat data.

Trade of fisheries and aquaculture products between EU Member States and non-EU countries (2020)
(value in thousand EUR and percentage of total)

Main Member States importing from non-EU countries
Spain 4 267 911 17.6%
Sweden 4 047 063 16.7%
Denmark 2 856 808 11.8%
Netherlands 2 843 950 11.7%
France 2 559 115 10.6%
Italy 2 140 118 8.8%
Germany 1 765 928 7.3%
Poland 915 461 3.8%
Other Member States 2 810 550 11.6%
Total EU-27 24 206 902 100%
Main Member States exporting to non-EU countries
Denmark 1 451 647 20.8%
Netherlands 1 193 059 17.1%
Spain 1 041 232 15.0%
Germany 519 163 7.5%
France 507 720 7.3%
Sweden 388 887 5.6%
Poland 383 327 5.5%
Ireland 286 661 4.1%
Other Member States 1 191 712 17.1%
Total EU-27 6 936 409 100%

Source: Eumofa elaboration of Eurostat data

Imports and exports of fisheries and aquaculture products - extra-EU trade (2020)
(volume in tonnes and value in thousand EUR)

Member State IMPORTS EXPORTS
Volume Value Volume Value
BE 136 958 820 953 19 599 64 228
BG 14 076 29 531 2 901 14 349
CZ 14 632 50 036 1 775 10 316
DK 932 574 2 856 808 515 222 1 451 647
DE 483 368 1 765 928 137 911 519 163
EE 8 199 36 935 71 061 64 701
IE 185 796 272 106 220 799 286 661
EL 121 247 317 230 17 233 77 220
ES 1 130 662 4 267 911 446 704 1 041 232
FR 563 796 2 559 115 138 192 507 720
HR 13 258 24 991 22 434 95 060
IT 442 809 2 140 118 52 405 227 226
CY 7 570 32 005 4 655 25 416
LV 24 844 53 728 46 310 77 414
LT 71 113 194 376 36 166 102 599
LU 313 4 678 130 1 137
HU 3 217 10 195 1 434 5 113
MT 30 875 43 556 10 540 132 725
NL 669 698 2 843 950 575 080 1 193 059
AT 7 848 48 209 2 071 22 959
PL 267 027 915 461 106 386 383 327
PT 150 703 531 874 46 390 203 354
RO 18 543 51 735 3 861 13 985
SI 4 218 11 704 1 963 8 170
SK 5 602 14 984 900 2 997
FI 57 603 261 726 16 948 42 745
SE 785 797 4 047 063 68 334 388 887
Total EU-27 6 152 345 24 206 902 2 567 405 6 963 409

Source: Eumofa elaboration of Eurostat data.

Imports of fisheries and aquaculture products – extra-EU trade (2020)
(value in thousand EUR)

  Pelagic fish
ES 1 012 139
IT 651 584
NL 457 907
FR 444 078
DE 328 203
PL 129 337
SE 102 343
PT 94 287
Other Member States 393 566
Total EU-27 3 613 443
  Salmonids
SE 3 258 831
DK 1 112 482
PL 410 343
FR 394 023
NL 239 591
FI 216 479
DE 206 617
BE 59 168
Other Member States 249 501
Total EU-27 6 147 036
  Other fish

NL

1 374 281
ES 892 321
DK 840 934
DE 839 769
FR 736 291
SE 549 501
IT 434 446
PL 339 509
Other Member States 974 561
Total EU-27 6 981 613
  Crustaceans
ES 899 274
FR 693 095
NL 605 064
DK 516 554
IT 369 066
BE 358 435
DE 227 198
SE 120 219
Other Member States 245 675
Total EU-27 4 034 580
  Molluscs
ES 1 333 643
IT 604 220
FR 213 429
PT 95 110
NL 88 970
EL 69 301
DE 32 202
BE 32 034
Other Member States 64 161
Total EU-27 2 533 068
Non-food use products
DK 275 645
DE 131 940
ES 82 351
FR 78 198
NL 78 137
EL 67 711
BE 57 655
IE 57 524
Other Member States 68 001
Total EU-27 897 162

Source: Eumofa elaboration of Eurostat data.

Exports of fisheries and aquaculture products - extra-EU trade (2020)
(value in thousand EUR)

  Pelagic fish
ES 488 718
NL 283 268
FR 121 849
IE 109 789
IT 97 924
MT 93 643
PL 79 599
HR 64 639
Other Member States 283 866
Total EU-27 1 623 296
  Salmonids
SE 313 735
DK 234 371
NL 173 429
DE 157 014
PL 143 465
FR 61 114
FI 32 915
IE 19 322
Other Member States 65 162
Total EU-27 1 200 527
  Other fish
NL 509 942
ES 334 541
DK 334 431
DE 263 581
FR 185 426
PL 146 320
PT 114 677
IT 76 854
Other Member States 420 669
Total EU-27 2 386 440

 

  Crustaceans
DK 347 446
NL 164 922
FR 31 789
ES 30 658
DE 27 661
EE 16 402
IE 13 788
IT 8 994
Other Member States 23 804
Total EU-27 665 464

 

  Molluscs
ES 158 686
FR 68 410
IE 29 533
IT 20 758
PT 19 939
NL 16 257
DK 15 211
BG 7 196
Other Member States 17 280
Total EU-27 353 269
Non-food use products
DK 457 097
IE 60 912
NL 45 240
FR 39 133
DE 38 122
BE 22 372
ES 21 635
IT 16 796
Other Member States 33 107
Total EU-27 734 413

Source: Eumofa elaboration of Eurostat data.