Brussels, 08/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - The 2015 report by the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA), published on Tuesday 8 December, reveals that European consumers are buying fewer fisheries products but are spending more on what they buy.
The EU confirmed itself as a major seafood consumption market with household expenditures of €54.7 billion in 2013. This marked a 1% increase over 2012 and is the highest amount ever recorded. Consumption per capita for 2012 was 23.9 kg, a 3% decrease from 2011. This downward trend has been seen since 2008, when per capita fish consumption was 26 kg. EU consumers buy less seafood but spend more for it, “which indicates a change in consumption preferences as well as fish prices”, EUMOFA says. The observatory notes, in particular, the rise in consumption of salmon and herring, and the stabilisation of pangasius consumption.
Demand for organic aquaculture products has grown rapidly over the last years, satisfied mostly through imports from outside the EU. The biggest organic markets in the EU are Germany, France, the UK and Italy.
EU trade leads way. EU trade in fishery and aquaculture products - comprising extra-EU imports and exports, and intra-EU exchanges - is the largest in the world in terms of value. In 2014, the trade flow totalled 13.8 million tonnes and was worth €45.9 billion.
Imports: Norway and China are leaders. Values of extra-EU imports have been increasing since 2009, at an average annual growth rate of 6%. In 2014, the EU imported fish and seafood worth some €21 billion. Extra-EU imports of seafood are more than four times higher than meat in value, and this ratio is increasing. Norway and China remain the main EU suppliers. Imports from Norway, which represent a quarter of the total, reached a peak in 2014 (mostly fresh salmon). Norway's exports to the EU have increased by 70% since 2009. China has confirmed its leading role as a white fish processing country.
In 2014, EU exports were worth €4.3 billion, 30% above the 2006-2014 average. Volumes also were the highest since 2006, reaching more than 2 million tonnes for the first time.
The volume of landings in the EU increased by 7% in 2013 (mainly due to sandeels, tuna and sardines). However, the value of EU fishery products landed in 2013 was down slightly.
The EU is a net importer of fishery and seafood products, with a trade balance deficit that has been growing rapidly since 2009. The 2014 trade deficit of €16.6 billion was the largest ever. This was primarily due to the growing import of shrimps, which increased by €630 million between 2013 and 2014.
EU self-sufficiency in seafood (production relative to internal consumption) reduced continuously between 2008 and 2011. However, from 2011 to 2012, it increased from 44% to 44.5%. Flatfish reported a remarkable loss - from 97% to 77% - due to a significant decrease in landings and an increase in imports of frozen products from China.
Retail prices of fish and seafood have grown steadily in the last years. Canned tuna continued to be the most important product in terms of consumption in 2012, at 2 kg per capita. This was a 6% decrease from 2011, reflecting a decline of canned tuna imports in several EU countries, mainly Spain and Italy. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)