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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 2023 (Table I), the situation of employment in the fisheries (2020), aquaculture (2018) and fish processing (2019) sectors (Table II), the production, import and export of fisheries and aquaculture products in 2020 (Table III), the apparent and per capita consumption of fisheries and aquaculture products in 2020 (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 2023

  Fishing vessels* Gross tonnage* Engine power*
MS No. % GT % kW %
BE 64 0.1 14 075 1.1 45 820 0.9
BG 1 776 2.5 5 852 0.4 52 028 1.0
CY 817 1.1 3 845 0.3 39 437 0.8
DE 1 176 1.6 53 950 4.1 124 322 2.4
DK 1 864 2.6 70 408 5.4 213 430 4.1
EE 2 028 2.8 16 331 1.2 49 575 0.9
EL 12 168 17.0 62 626 4.8 359 543 6.9
ES 8 643 12.1 317 955 24.3 756 116 14.5
FI 3 195 4.5 14 606 1.1 170 219 3.3
FR 6 104 8.5 173 962 13.3 959 419 18.4
HR 7 456 10.4 42 735 3.3 340 360 6.5
IE 1 941 2.7 64 892 5.0 179 840 3.4
IT 12 238 17.1 146 818 11.2 946 173 18.1
LT 119 0.2 34 556 2.6 39 253 0.8
LV 643 0.9 33 267 2.5 55 772 1.1
MT 842 1.2 6 497 0.5 70 123 1.3
NL 710 1.0 99 778 7.6 244 775 4.7
PL 824 1.2 35 592 2.7 84 332 1.6
PT 7 705 10.8 86 580 6.6 348 787 6.7
RO 173 0.2 1 615 0.1 6 338 0.1
SE 1 009 1.4 23 841 1.8 132 469 2.5
SI 136 0.2 668 0.1 8 760 0.2
Total* 71 631 100 1 310 448 100 5 226 895 100

Source: DG MARE, EU Fleet Register ‘EU Fleet at a glimpse’. Situation as in April 2023. * 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 (2020), aquaculture (2018) and fish processing (2019) sectors; measured in full-time equivalents (FTE)

MS Fisheries 2020 Aquaculture 2018 Processing2019
  FTE FTE FTE
AT - 186 158
BE 225 48 1 426
BG 619 1 023 2 177
CY 793 406 -
CZ - 901 756
DE 740 1 254 6 633
DK 990 358 351
EE 14 528 33 1 313
EL 321 3 524 2 357
ES 24 522 6 528 23 781
FI 402 348 1 100
FR 7 293 9 535 12 958
HR 3 146 1 730 2 239
HU - 877 330
IE 2 684 1 099 3 962
IT 13 193 3 287 6 037
LT 408 220 5 115
LV 247 166 2 907
MT 524 283 80
NL 1 504 201 3 068
PL 2 129 3 459 1 985
PT 7 200 921 8 508
RO 54 2 560 1 038
SE 701 267 1 894
SI 47 22 126
SK - 698 -

Sources: Fisheries: data from 2020. See Annex in: Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF): The 2022 Annual Economic Report on the EU Fishing Fleet (STECF 22-06) Annex, Prellezo, R., Sabatella, E., Virtanen, J. and Guillen, J. editors, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2022, doi:10.2760/358466, JRC130578;

Aquaculture: data from 2018. See Table 2.1 in: Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) – The EU Aquaculture Sector – Economic report 2020 (STECF-20-12). EUR 28359 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2021, ISBN 978-92-76-36192-3, doi:10.2760/441510, JRC124931;

Processing: data from 2019. See Table 2.1.1 in: Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) – Economic report on the fish processing industry (STECF-21-14). EUR 28359 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2022, ISBN 978-92-7653687-1, doi:10.2760/715841, JRC129953.

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 = LatviaHU = 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 2020 (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 133 153 531 698 150 434 161 392 3 7511 22 220
Cephalopods 77 934 0 578 485 0 44 284 1
Crustaceans 114 976 3 474 416 499 378 861 148 119 4 601
Flatfish 125 232 12 031 156 880 998 89 147 250
Freshwater fish 95 572 110 481 67 216 197 255 4 810 4 591
Groundfish 519 732 0 2 427 114 542 543 554 0
Miscellaneous aquaculture products 52 794 490 329 607 0 64 239 0
Other marine fish 228 959 192 680 395 370 115 016 168 022 42 955
Salmonids 14 498 208 216 2 216 1 319 038 67 953 147 833
Small pelagics 1 228 573 0 762 993 0 712 776 0
Tuna and tuna-like species 371 819 29 329 1 377 131 777 355 309 11 610
Total 2 963 241 1 088 399 6 663 945 2 173 879 2 235 725 234 061

Source: European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA). Supply balance sheet. Retrieved the 18 April 2023.

Table IV: Apparent and per capita consumption by commodity group in 2020 (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 245 503 670 515 916 017 0.55 1.50 2.05
Cephalopods 611 863 0 611 862 1.37 0.00 1.37
Crustaceans 382 897 377 746 760 643 0.86 0.84 1.70
Flatfish 192 849 12 761 205 610 0.43 0.03 0.46
Freshwater fish 157 874 303 081 460 955 0.35 0.68 1.03
Groundfish 2 402 691 542 2 403 234 5.37 0.00 5.37
Miscellaneous aquatic products 318 049 490 318 539 0.71 0.00 0.71
Other marine fish 455 728 264 572 720 300 1.02 0.59 1.61
Salmonids 78 458 1 249 268 1 327 726 0.18 2.79 2.97
Small pelagics 1 277 994 0 1 277 994 2.86 0.00 2.86
Tuna and tuna-like species 1 392 897 18 481 1 411 378 3.11 0.04 3.16
Total 7 516 804 2 897 455 10 414 258 16.81 6.47 23.29

Source: European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA). Supply balance sheet. Retrieved the 18 April 2023.

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 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Total
AT 822 1098 1054 1009 895 913 927 6718
BE 4 925 6579 6319 6051 5366 5470 5556 40266
BG 10 391 13878 13330 12764 11320 11540 11722 84945
CY 4 686 6259 6011 5756 5105 5204 5286 38307
CZ 3 670 4902 4709 4509 3999 4076 4140 30005
DE 25 909 34606 33239 31827 28227 28776 29228 211812
DK 24 583 32834 31537 30198 26782 27303 27732 200969
EE 11 913 15912 15283 14634 12979 13231 13439 97391
EL 45 870 61266 58847 56348 49973 50945 51747 374996
ES 137 053 183056 175827 168361 149313 152219 154612 1120442
FI 8 777 11723 11260 10782 9562 9748 9902 71756
FR 69 373 92658 88999 85220 75578 77049 78260 567137
HR 29 808 39813 38241 36617 32474 33106 33627 243687
HU 4 613 6161 5918 5666 5025 5123 5204 37710
IE 17 415 23260 22342 21393 18973 19342 19646 142370
IT 63 389 84666 81322 77869 69059 70403 71510 518217
LT 7 484 9996 9601 9194 8153 8312 8443 61184
LU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
LV 16 498 22036 21166 20267 17974 18324 18612 134877
MT 2 670 3566 3425 3280 2908 2965 3012 21825
NL 11 978 15999 15367 14714 13050 13304 13513 97924
PL 62 676 83713 80407 76993 68282 69611 70706 512388
PT 46 307 61851 59408 56885 50449 51431 52240 378572
RO 19 871 26541 25493 24410 21649 22070 22417 162451
SE 14 177 18 935 18 187 17 415 15 445 15 745 15 993 11 5897
SI 2 927 3910 3755 3596 3189 3251 3302 23 930
SK 1 862 2488 2389 2288 2029 2068 2101 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