European fisheries in figures

The tables below show basic statistical data in several areas relating to the common fisheries policy (CFP), namely: the fishing fleet of the Member States in 2024 (Table I), the situation of employment in the fisheries (2021), aquaculture (2020) and fish processing (2021) sectors (Table II), the production, import and export of fisheries and aquaculture products in 2021 (Table III), the apparent and per capita consumption of fisheries and aquaculture products in 2021 (Table IV), and the prospective resource allocations of the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) from 2021 to 2027 (Table V).

Table I: The fishing fleet of the Member States (EU-27) in 2024

Fishing vessels* Gross tonnage* Engine power*
MS No. % GT % kW %
BE 60 0.1 13 697 1.1 44 312 0.9
BG 1 780 2.5 5 852 0.5 52 291 1.0
CY 824 1.2 3 921 0.3 40 413 0.8
DE 1 135 1.6 58 275 4.7 127 563 2.5
DK 1 777 2.5 65 227 5.2 200 259 3.9
EE 2 031 2.9 16 203 1.3 49 218 1.0
EL 12 092 17.2 62 564 5.0 358 743 7.1
ES 8 525 12.2 313 882 25.1 751 150 14.8
FI 3 231 4.6 15 003 1.2 172 266 3.4
FR 5 993 8.5 157 864 12.6 921 559 18.1
HR 7 246 10.3 42 145 3.4 338 455 6.7
IE 1 930 2.8 60 292 4.8 168 723 3.3
IT 12 255 17.5 146 035 11.7 946 916 18.6
LT 117 0.2 32 535 2.6 37 495 0.7
LV 662 0.9 22 058 1.8 39 145 0.8
MT 832 1.2 6 493 0.5 69 041 1.4
NL 657 0.9 82 635 6.6 189 639 3.7
PL 822 1.2 35 429 2.8 83 539 1.6
PT 6 859 9.8 84 803 6.8 341 733 6.7
RO 173 0.2 1 630 0.1 6 330 0.1
SE 974 1.4 24 250 1.9 132 073 2.6
SI 135 0.2 668 0.1 8 757 0.2
Total* 70 110 100 1 251 459 100 5 079 619 100

Source: DG MARE, EU Fleet Register ‘EU Fleet at a glimpse’. Situation as in April 2024. * Own calculations for percentages and totals.

NB: MS = Member State, BE = Belgium, BG = Bulgaria, CY = Cyprus, DE = Germany, DK = Denmark, EE = Estonia, EL = Greece, ES = Spain, FI = Finland, FR = France, HR = Croatia, IE = Ireland,, IT = Italy, LT = Lithuania, LV = Latvia, MT = Malta, NL = Netherlands, PL = Poland, PT = Portugal, RO = Romania, SE = Sweden, SI = Slovenia, SK = Slovakia.

Table II: Employment in the fisheries (2021), aquaculture (2020) and fish processing (2021) sectors; measured in full-time equivalents (FTE)

MS Fisheries 2021 Aquaculture 2020 Processing2021
FTE FTE FTE
AT - 200 124
BE 232 9 1 315
BG 570 930 1 975
CY 755 388 -
CZ - 860 728
DE 749 1 263 5 556
DK 951 425 2 638
EE 266 51 1 316
EL 12 665 3 795 2 263
ES 24 209 5 934 25 471
FI 193 370 872
FR 7 293* 6 185 11 746
HR 3 355 1 105 1 885
HU - 1 309 131
IE 1 911 1 007 2 874
IT 14 875 2 042 5 251
LT 408* 268 3 946
LV 267 223 2 406
MT 529 300 110
NL 1 586 258 2 092
PL 2 129* 3 678 19 198
PT 7 903 987 8 022
RO 54* 2 055 1 071
SE 679 348 1 281
SI 41 26 91
SK - 566 -

Sources: Fisheries: data from 2021. See Annex in: Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF): The 2023 Annual Economic Report on the EU Fishing Fleet (STECF 23-07) Annex, Prellezo, R., Sabatella, E., Virtanen, J. and Guillen, J. editors, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2023, doi:10.2760/423534, JRC135182; *2020 data from STECF 22.02.

Aquaculture: data from 2020. See Table 2.1 in: Scientific Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries – Economic Report on the EU aquaculture (STECF-22-17) Nielsen R. Virtanen, J. and Guillen Garcia J. editor(s), EUR 28359 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2023, ISBN 978-92-76-99317-9, doi:10.2760/51391, JRC132648.

Processing: data from 2021. See Table 2.1.1 in: Scientific Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) – Economic Report on the EU fish processing industry (STECF 23-14), Malvarosa, L., Tardy Martorell, M., Virtanen, J. and Guillen, J. editor(s), Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2024, doi:10.2760/81639, JRC136367.

NB: MS = Member State, AT = Austria, BE = Belgium, BG = Bulgaria, , CY = Cyprus, CZ = Czechia, DE = Germany, DK = Denmark, EE = Estonia, EL = Greece, ES = Spain, FI = Finland, FR = France, HR = Croatia, , IE = Ireland, IT = Italy, LT = Lithuania, LV = Latvia, HU = Hungary, MT = Malta, NL = Netherlands, PL = Poland, PT = Portugal, RO = Romania, SE = Sweden, SI = Slovenia, SK = Slovakia.

Table III: Production, import and export of fisheries and aquaculture products by commodity group in 2021 (live weight equivalent - food use only)

Commodity group Production (t) Import (t) Export (t)
Catches Aqua-culture Catches Aqua-culture Catches Aqua-culture
Bivalves, other molluscs and aquatic invertebrates 165 663 552 669 147 213 168 857 39 283 23 081
Cephalopods 84 282 0 658 002 0 62 514 2
Crustaceans 120 328 734 466 374 426 561 149 054 4 647
Flatfish 112 327 13 132 158 834 676 82 699 405
Freshwater fish 90 686 106 749 56 096 175 245 6 203 5 984
Groundfish 534 673 1 2 482 400 543 514 197 0
Miscellaneous aquaculture products 84 358 538 322 310 0 64 773 0
Other marine fish 228 551 226 067 380 585 115 153 155 242 40 174
Salmonids 12 666 211 348 65 177 1 267 165 470 158 163
Small pelagics 1 089 132 0 725 592 0 662 600 0
Tuna and tuna-like species 397 533 17 921 1 251 417 565 336 636 10 441
Total 2 920 199 1 129 159 6 714 000 2 154 765 2 073 671 242 897

Source: European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA). Supply balance sheet. Retrieved the 11 March 2024.

Table IV: Apparent and per capita consumption by commodity group in 2021 (live weight equivalent - food use only)

Commodity group Apparent consumption (t) Per capita consumption (kg)
Catches Aqua-culture Total Catches Aqua-culture Total
Bivalves. other molluscs and aquatic invertebrates 273 822 698 445 972 267 0.60 1.56 2.16
Cephalopods 679 770 0 679 770 1.52 0.00 1.52
Crustaceans 438 727 424 879 863 606 0.98 0.94 1.92
Flatfish 188 461 13 403 201 864 0.41 0.03 0.44
Freshwater fish 140 579 276 010 416 589 0.32 0.61 0.93
Groundfish 2 504 940 544 2 505 484 5.59 0.00 5.59
Miscellaneous aquatic products 362 062 538 362 600 0.76 0.00 0.76
Other marine fish 455 118 301 045 756 163 1.01 0.68 1.69
Salmonids 77 373 1 320 349 1 397 722 0.18 2.95 3.13
Small pelagics 1 174 892 0 1 174 892 2.57 0.00 2.57
Tuna and tuna-like species 1 312 315 8 045 1 320 360 2.93 0.02 2.95
Total 7 608 059 3 043 258 10 651 317 16.87 6.49 23.66

Source: European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA). Supply balance sheet. Retrieved the 11 March 2024.

Table V: Allocations of European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) Resources by Member State from 2021 to 2027 (EUR 1 000, current prices)

MS 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 Total
AT 822 1 098 1 054 1 009 895 913 927 6 718
BE 4 925 6 579 6 319 6 051 5 366 5 470 5 556 40 266
BG 10 391 13 878 13 330 12 764 11 320 11 540 11 722 84 945
CY 4 686 6 259 6 011 5 756 5 105 5 204 5 286 38 307
CZ 3 670 4 902 4 709 4 509 3 999 4 076 4 140 30 005
DE 25 909 34 606 33 239 31 827 28 227 28 776 29 228 211 812
DK 24 583 32 834 31 537 30 198 26 782 27 303 27 732 200 969
EE 11 913 15 912 15 283 14 634 12 979 13 231 13 439 97 391
EL 45 870 61 266 58 847 56 348 49 973 50 945 51 747 374 996
ES 137 053 183 056 175 827 168 361 149 313 152 219 154 612 1 120 442
FI 8 777 11 723 11 260 10 782 9 562 9 748 9 902 71 756
FR 69 373 92 658 88 999 85 220 75 578 77 049 78 260 567 137
HR 29 808 39 813 38 241 36 617 32 474 33 106 33 627 243 687
HU 4 613 6 161 5 918 5 666 5 025 5 123 5 204 37 710
IE 17 415 23 260 22 342 21 393 18 973 19 342 19 646 142 370
IT 63 389 84 666 81 322 77 869 69 059 70 403 71 510 518 217
LT 7 484 9 996 9 601 9 194 8 153 8 312 8 443 61 184
LU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
LV 16 498 22 036 21 166 20 267 17 974 18 324 18 612 134 877
MT 2 670 3 566 3 425 3 280 2 908 2 965 3 012 21 825
NL 11 978 15 999 15 367 14 714 13 050 13 304 13 513 97 924
PL 62 676 83 713 80 407 76 993 68 282 69 611 70 706 512 388
PT 46 307 61 851 59 408 56 885 50 449 51 431 52 240 378 572
RO 19 871 26 541 25 493 24 410 21 649 22 070 22 417 162 451
SE 14 177 18 935 18 187 17 415 15 445 15 745 15 993 11 5897
SI 2 927 3 910 3 755 3 596 3 189 3 251 3 302 23 930
SK 1 862 2 488 2 389 2 288 2 029 2 068 2 101 15 225
Total 649 647 867 706 833 436 798 046 707 758 721 529 732 877 5 311 001

Source: Regulation (EU) 2021/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 July 2021 establishing the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and amending Regulation (EU) 2017/1004.

NB: MS = Member State, BE = Belgium, BG = Bulgaria, CY = Cyprus, CZ = Czechia, DE = Germany, DK = Denmark, EE = Estonia, EL = Greece, ES = Spain, FI = Finland, FR = France, HR = Croatia, HU = Hungary, IE = Ireland, IT = Italy, LT = Lithuania, LV = Latvia, MT = Malta, NL = Netherlands, AT = Austria, PL = Poland, PT = Portugal, RO = Romania, SK = Slovakia, SI = Slovenia, SE = Sweden.

Marcus Ernst Gerhard Breuer / DANA DIVERA TWISK