Farmed seafood now outweighs the wild catch
Share of world aquatic animal production from aquaculture vs capture fisheries, %, 1990–2024.
- 1. Brazil has all but caught the US in farm exports
- 2. Brazil exports more chicken than the US and EU combined
- 3. India now ships over a third of world rice exports
- 4. Russia now exports twice as much wheat as the US
- 5. Egypt exports more fresh oranges than any other country
- 6. China buys three in ten of the world's beef imports
- 7. Farmed seafood now outweighs the wild catch
- 8. Spanish olive oil mill prices are back at 2021 levels
- 9. Ukraine sells a fifth less grain than before the war
- 10. Brazil overtook the US as the world's top cotton exporter
- 11. Laos now mines more potash than Israel or Jordan
- 12. India now grows more rice than China
- 13. Côte d'Ivoire grows more cashews than India
- 14. Indonesia set to use more palm oil than it exports
- 15. Mato Grosso grows more soy than China and India combined
- 16. Africa now has more hungry people than Asia
Share of the world's fish and seafood that came from farms in 2024, up from 13% in 1990.
Farmed aquatic animal output passed 100 million tonnes for the first time in 2024.
Wild catch has stayed in this band since the late 1980s. Nearly all growth came from farms.
the numbers & method
| Year | Farmed (aquaculture) (%) | Wild catch (capture fisheries) (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 13.4 | 86.6 |
| 2000 | 25.7 | 74.3 |
| 2012 | 42.2 | 57.8 |
| 2020 | 49.2 | 50.8 |
| 2022 | 50.9 | 49.1 |
| 2024 | 52.8 | 47.2 |
Claim types Fact
Aquatic animals only (excludes algae). Points come from different SOFIA editions, so later revisions may shift earlier values slightly: 1990 13.4% and 2020 49.2% (SOFIA 2022); 2000 25.7% and 2012 42.2% (SOFIA 2014, via IISD); 2022 from SOFIA 2024 (94.4 Mt farmed of 185.4 Mt, 50.9%, derived; FAO states 51%); 2024 from SOFIA 2026 (103 Mt farmed of 195 Mt, 52.8%, derived; FAO states 53%). SOFIA 2026 figures read via press coverage quoting FAO (DevelopmentAid, Feed & Additive). Wild-catch share is derived as 100 minus the aquaculture share. Aquaculture first overtook capture in 2022.
Published 18 Oct 2026
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