Seafood exports connect fishing and aquaculture regions with markets around the world. In 2024, estimated fisheries-product exports were worth USD 170.96 billion, while aquatic-food trade involved 230 economic territories. The figures below separate observed trade values from forecasts and distinguish broad aquatic-product measures from fisheries and aquaculture export totals.
Contents
- Global seafood export scale
- Leading seafood exporters in 2024
- How 2024 leaders compare with 2023
- What seafood exports include
- Market reach and concentration
- The outlook through 2034
- United States seafood exports
Global seafood export scale
The value of global fisheries-product exports has remained measured in the hundreds of billions of dollars. The FAO’s World Fish trade fall in 2024 reports an estimated USD 170.96 billion in 2024. Its comparable figures put global fisheries-product exports at USD 178.68 billion in 2023, USD 178.10 billion in 2022, and USD 135.989 billion in 2020.
These are annual export values, not production volumes. They also describe fisheries products, while other FAO reporting uses the broader term aquatic products. Keeping those measures separate matters when comparing totals across sources.
The Global aquatic food trade: The latest findings from SOFIA 2026 estimates 2024 aquatic-product trade revenue at USD 186 billion. That total includes USD 2 billion from algae and other aquatic products. Aquatic-product trade represented 9% of total agricultural trade excluding forestry and about 1% of global merchandise trade in 2024.
Trade also reaches well beyond a small group of shipping hubs. About 36% of global aquatic-animal production was traded internationally in 2024, according to the same FAO source. In practical terms, a little more than one-third of aquatic-animal production crossed an international border that year. The source counts 230 economic territories participating in aquatic-food trade.
Leading seafood exporters in 2024
The FAO’s fisheries and aquaculture export estimates identify China as the largest exporter in 2024, at USD 20.18 billion. Norway followed at USD 15.98 billion. Ecuador exported USD 9.20 billion, Viet Nam USD 8.30 billion, and Chile USD 7.80 billion.
The next group included India at USD 7.20 billion, Canada at USD 6.50 billion, the Netherlands at USD 5.90 billion, Thailand at USD 5.60 billion, and Sweden at USD 5.60 billion. Spain exported USD 5.40 billion, Indonesia USD 5.10 billion, the Russian Federation USD 4.80 billion, and Denmark USD 4.30 billion.
| Exporter | 2024 fisheries and aquaculture exports |
|---|---|
| China | USD 20.18 billion |
| Norway | USD 15.98 billion |
| Ecuador | USD 9.20 billion |
| Viet Nam | USD 8.30 billion |
| Chile | USD 7.80 billion |
| India | USD 7.20 billion |
| Canada | USD 6.50 billion |
| Netherlands | USD 5.90 billion |
| Thailand | USD 5.60 billion |
| Sweden | USD 5.60 billion |
| Spain | USD 5.40 billion |
| Indonesia | USD 5.10 billion |
| Russian Federation | USD 4.80 billion |
| Denmark | USD 4.30 billion |
The ranking shows a mix of major aquaculture producers, fishing nations, processors, and distribution centers. The values should be read as country export totals for fisheries and aquaculture products; they do not by themselves indicate that every product originated in the exporting country.
How 2024 leaders compare with 2023
The same FAO reporting provides a useful year-to-year benchmark. China rose from USD 19.80 billion in 2023 to USD 20.18 billion in 2024, while Norway remained at USD 15.98 billion in both years. Ecuador increased from USD 9.00 billion to USD 9.20 billion, and Viet Nam from USD 8.00 billion to USD 8.30 billion.
Chile moved from USD 8.80 billion in 2023 to USD 7.80 billion in 2024. India declined from USD 7.60 billion to USD 7.20 billion, and Canada from USD 7.60 billion to USD 6.50 billion. The Netherlands moved from USD 6.80 billion to USD 5.90 billion.
Thailand increased from USD 5.20 billion to USD 5.60 billion. Spain moved from USD 5.90 billion to USD 5.40 billion, Indonesia from USD 5.30 billion to USD 5.10 billion, and the Russian Federation from USD 5.00 billion to USD 4.80 billion. Sweden changed from USD 5.70 billion to USD 5.60 billion, while Denmark moved from USD 5.00 billion to USD 4.30 billion.
| Exporter | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| China | USD 19.80B | USD 20.18B |
| Norway | USD 15.98B | USD 15.98B |
| Ecuador | USD 9.00B | USD 9.20B |
| Viet Nam | USD 8.00B | USD 8.30B |
| Chile | USD 8.80B | USD 7.80B |
| Canada | USD 7.60B | USD 6.50B |
| Netherlands | USD 6.80B | USD 5.90B |
| Thailand | USD 5.20B | USD 5.60B |
The comparison is descriptive rather than an explanation of cause. The supplied FAO figures show how reported export values changed, but they do not establish why each country moved up or down.
What seafood exports include
Product composition helps explain why country totals are not interchangeable. In 2024, finfish represented 68% of global aquatic-animal trade value, according to Global aquatic food trade: The latest findings from SOFIA 2026. Crustaceans accounted for another 22%. Together, those two categories represented 90% of aquatic-animal trade value in that measure.
Country portfolios can be more concentrated than the global mix. Norway’s salmon products represented 74% of its aquatic-animal export value in 2024. That makes salmon a particularly important part of Norway’s export profile, even though the global trade measure includes many other fish and aquatic products.
The broad 2024 aquatic-product trade estimate also includes algae and other aquatic products. That component contributed USD 2 billion to the USD 186 billion estimate. It should not be silently combined with the USD 170.96 billion fisheries-product export estimate as though the two totals used identical definitions.
Market reach and concentration
The five leading seafood-exporting countries accounted for 35% of global exports in 2024. China alone held an 11% share of global aquatic-product exports, while Norway held 9% and Viet Nam 6%, according to the FAO’s SOFIA 2026 findings.
China’s export network was especially broad: it exported aquatic products to 180 countries and territories in 2024. At the same time, its five largest export destinations accounted for half of its aquatic-product export value. This combination describes both geographic reach and concentration. Products can be sold across many destinations while a substantial share of value remains concentrated in the largest markets.
The 230 economic territories involved in aquatic-food trade provide a wider frame than the leading-exporter ranking. A country can participate in the international seafood economy as an exporter, importer, processor, or destination market, and the global participation figure does not mean that each territory exported the same types or values of products.
The outlook through 2034
The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2025-2034 provides projections, not observed results. It projects that about 35% of global fisheries and aquaculture production will be traded in 2034, or 31% when intra-EU trade is excluded.
World trade of fish and other aquatic products for human consumption is projected to be 7.1% higher in 2034 than in the 2022–2024 base period. Exports are projected to reach 46 million tonnes product weight in 2034, up from 43 million tonnes in the base period. These are volume projections, so they should not be treated as a forecast of export value in dollars.
Asia is projected to account for nearly half of global exports of fish and other aquatic products for human consumption in 2034. China is projected to represent 19% of those exports. Viet Nam’s share is projected to rise from 7% in the base period to 9% in 2034.
The outlook is not uniformly positive across regions or products. Africa’s exports of fish and other aquatic products for human consumption are projected to decline by 12% by 2034 compared with the base period. Fishmeal exports are projected to rise 8.0% and reach 3.8 million tonnes product weight in 2034. China is projected to account for 52% of global fishmeal imports, up from 48% in the base period. Fish-oil exports are projected to increase by 9.0% by 2034.
Because the OECD-FAO figures use the 2022–2024 base period, the comparisons do not describe a single-year change from 2024. They describe a projected 2034 position relative to an average or reference period spanning 2022 through 2024.
United States seafood exports
The United States exported 2.5 billion pounds of edible seafood products in 2023, according to Fisheries of the United States. That is a physical quantity, while the FAO export-value estimate for United States fisheries and aquaculture products was USD 5.60 billion in 2023.
The FAO estimate for the United States was USD 4.90 billion in 2024. The two annual value figures describe a decrease between the reported 2023 and 2024 totals, but they do not explain the reason for that change. Nor should the 2.5 billion-pound edible-seafood figure be converted into dollars without product-level prices, because the dataset does not provide them.
For readers following seafood markets from a kitchen or coastal food perspective, the central takeaway is the breadth of the trade: billions of dollars in annual exports, a large international network, a product mix led by finfish and crustaceans, and a forecast in which Asia remains a dominant exporting region through 2034. Each number still needs its scope label—value or volume, fisheries products or broader aquatic products, observed year or forecast period—before it can be compared fairly.