A report by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) published at the end of 2019 shows an increase in the turnover of fish processing enterprises.
In 2017, the overall number of enterprises in the sector was 3,500. In 2017, the sector had a turnover of €32.5 billion and employed more than 130,000 people. Ninety-eight percent of enterprises are SMEs (less than 250 employees), 85% are small (less than 50 employees) and more than half are micro-enterprises. Finland, Slovenia, Sweden, Greece and Italy have the highest percentages of micro-enterprises. The highest share of big enterprises are located in Eastern Europe.
Over the analysed period (2008-2017), the experts noted a concentration of production which is reflected in a decrease in the number of enterprises (-7%) and a 20% increase in turnover across the fish processing sector. The value added produced by the sector in 2017 is 18% higher than in the previous year and represented 20% of total income, the report shows. In addition, the average salary remained stable at 30,000 euros over the period 2016-2017.
Spain is the leading country, followed by Italy, in terms of the number of active workers (Poland and Denmark are third and fourth in terms of turnover, after the United Kingdom). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)