Medidas de Gestao das Pescarias Marinhas e Aquicultura 2019 The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 | Page 88

PART 1 WORLD REVIEW
TABLE 18
TOTAL AND PER CAPITA APPARENT FISH CONSUMPTION BY REGION AND ECONOMIC GROUPING, 2015
Region/economic grouping
World
Total food fish consumption
(million tonnes
live weight equivalent)
Per capita food fish consumption
(kg/year)
148.8 20.2
World (excluding China) 92.9 15.5
Africa 11.7 9.9
North America 7.7 21.6
Latin America and the Caribbean 6.2 9.8
105.6 24.0
16.6 22.5
1.0 25.0
Developed countries 31.4 24.9
Least-developed countries 12.0 12.6
105.4 20.5
20.8 7.7
Asia
Europe
Oceania
Other developing countries
Low-income food-deficit countries
NOTE: Data are preliminary. Discrepancies with Table 1 in the Overview, page 4, are due to the impact of trade and stock data in the overall calculation of the FAO Food Balance
Sheets (FAO, 2018d).
the result of a number of interconnected factors,
including population increasing at a higher rate
than food fish supply; limitations in expansion of
fish production because of pressure on capture
fisheries resources and a poorly developed
aquaculture sector; low income levels; inadequate
storage and processing infrastructure; and a lack
of the marketing and distribution channels
necessar y to commercialize fish products beyond
the localities where they are captured or farmed.
However, it is also important to mention that in
Africa, actual values may be higher than
indicated by official statistics in view of the
under-recorded contribution of subsistence
fisheries, some small-scale fisheries and some
cross-border trade.
combination of a large, growing and increasingly
urban population, dramatic expansion of fish
production, in particular from aquaculture, rising
incomes and increased international fish trade.
China, by far the world’s largest fish consuming
countr y, consumed 38 percent of the global total
in 2015, with per capita consumption reaching
about 41 kg, fuelled by growing domestic income
and wealth. More diverse t ypes of fish have
become available to consumers in China owing to
a diversion of some fisher y exports towards the
domestic market as well as an increase in fisher y
imports. If China is excluded, annual per capita
food fish consumption in the rest of the world
was about 15.5 kg in 2015, having risen from
10.3 kg in 1961 and grown in a more sustained
way since the early 2000s, with food fish
consumption outpacing population growth (at
annual rates of 2.5 and 1.7 percent, respectively).
The highest per capita fish consumption, over
50 kg, is found in several SIDS, particularly in
Oceania, which underlines the diminishing but
still important role of geography in the
disparities in fish consumption among regions.
The lowest levels, just above 2 kg, are in Central
Asia and some landlocked countries such as
Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Lesotho.
International trade has helped to reduce the
impact of geographical location and limited
domestic production, broadening the markets
for many species and offering wider choices to
In Africa, absolute levels of fish consumption
remain low (9.9 kg per capita in 2015), ranging
from a maximum of about 14 kg per capita in
western Africa to a mere 5 kg per capita in
eastern Africa. Major growth was obser ved in
North Africa (from 2.8 to 13.9 kg between 1961
and 2015), while per capita fish consumption has
remained static or decreased in some countries in
sub-Saharan Africa. The low fish consumption is
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