The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020

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PART 1 
WORLD REVIEW
FIGURE 29
TOP EXPORTERS AND IMPORTERS OF FISH AND FISH PRODUCTS IN TERMS OF VALUE, 2018
EXPORTS
Others
48%
China
14%
Norway
7%
Viet Nam
5%
India
4%
Netherlands
4%
Russian
Federation
3%
Others
40%
Spain
5%
China
9%
United States
of America
14%
Japan
9%
Republic
of Korea
4%
Netherlands
3%
Germany
4%
Italy
4%
France
4%
Sweden
3%
Chile
4%
United States
of America
4%
Thailand
4%
Canada
3%
IMPORTS
NOTE: Usually, exports are recorded at their free-on-board (FOB) value and imports at their cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value. Therefore, at the world level, the value of imports 
should be higher than that of exports. However, since 2011, this has not been the case. Work is under way to understand the reasons for this anomalous trend.
SOURCE: FAO.
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THE STATE OF WORLD FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE 
2020
back of strong global demand for salmonids 
throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia and 
increase in prices. In 2018, Chile became the 
fifth major exporter of fish and fish products, 
but in 2019 their value declined by 3 percent 
to USD 6.6 billion. Thailand, the sixth major 
exporter, has experienced a significant decline 
in exports since 2012, mainly as a result of 
its reduced shrimp production due to disease 
outbreaks that have eroded its competitiveness 
at the global level. 
The steady increase in developing countries’ 
share of international trade flows, with faster 
rates of growth compared with developed 
countries (
Figure 30
), has been a defining 
feature of global fish market development. 
From 1976 to 2018, exports from developing 
countries increased by an average of 8.4 percent 
per year in value terms, compared with 
6.8 percent for developed countries. In the 
period 1976–2018, the share of developing 
countries of trade in fish and fish products 
increased from 38 percent of global export 
FIGURE 30 
TRADE OF FISH AND FISH PRODUCTS
USD BILLIONS
0
20
40
60
80
100
1976
1982
1988
1994
2000
2006
2012
2018
1976
1982
1988
1994
2000
2006
2012
2018