March 2014: The global volume of aquaculture output is comparable to that of capture fisheries, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN’s (FAO) Global Aquaculture Production Volume and Value Statistics Database. FAO updated this volume and its database to 2012.

Aquaculture’s contribution to total world fish production increased from 25.7 percent in 2000 to 42.2 percent in 2012, according to FAO data. Aquaculture supplied a global average of 9.41 kilograms of food fish per person in 2012.

While 567 species items are registered in the global database, the majority of aquaculture production comes from only a several dozen species. About 140 countries and territories farm tilapias, making it the most widespread species for aquaculture production globally. Finfish aquaculture, an affordable source of quality protein food in many developing countries, is the most important sub-sector of aquaculture by volume.

Fisheries production distribution is “extremely uneven across the globe and on all continents” according to FAO. China, India, Viet Nam, Indonesia and Bangladesh are the top five aquaculture producers. China produces 69.8 percent of the global total, while India produces 7.1 percent. Egypt and Nigeria are the highest aquaculture producers in Africa, with 68.5 percent and 17.1 percent of the total, respectively. In the Americas, Chile produces 33.6 percent of aquaculture, followed by Brazil at 22.2 percent. Norway is the leading European producer, with 45.9 percent, followed by Spain at 9.2 percent. New Zealand and Australia are Oceania’s leading aquaculture producers, with 54.4 percent and 43.4 percent, respectively.

Asia is the only continent that produces more fish than capture fisheries. All other continents, except Europe, also reported increases in their share of aquaculture in total fish production.

FAO’s capture and aquaculture dataset from 1950 to 2012 is available online through its software for fishery statistical time series, ‘FishStatJ’ and its database. [FAO Press Release] [FishStatJ] [Global Aquaculture Production Database]