Close to three fifths of Europeans consume fish at least once a month

Some 58% of Europeans eat fish at home at least once a month, a new report from Eurobarometer has found, however the frequency of consumption has declined since 2021.

Some 29% of Europeans consume fishery and aquaculture products at least once a week, marking a 4% decline from 2021, while the share of consumers who never eat fishery or aquaculture products at home has increased to 15%, a rise of 4% since the last survey.

Eurobarometer’s survey was taken in September/October 2024, with the previous survey dating from March/April 2021.

‘Around three in ten respondents buy fishery or aquaculture products and consume them at home at least once a month but less than once a week, while about two in ten say that they eat these products once a month, but less than once a week, in restaurants and/or elsewhere,’ Eurobarometer noted.

Frequency of purchase

The frequency of buying fishery and aquaculture products mirrors that of consumption habits, with 23% of respondents purchasing fishery or aquaculture products weekly. This compares to 27% of respondents in 2021.

The percentage of those consuming these products in restaurants or other external locations shows a slight increase in frequency, with 9% of EU citizens eating these products at least once a week (compared to 7% in 2021), and 22% at least once a month (compared to 14% in 2021).

When asked what they consider the most important aspects when buying fishery or aquaculture products, 55% cited the price of the products (a one-percentage-point increase), ahead of 52% which cited appearance (a six-percentage point decline).

Other considerations include the product’s origin (46%) and the ease of preparation (25%).

Labelling considerations

Elsewhere, more than two thirds (69%) of respondents consider it important for labels to include the date of catch or harvest on all fishery and aquaculture products, however the importance of this has fallen by seven percentage points.

Environmental information was cited as an important labelling factor by 36% of consumers, an eight-percentage-point decline on the previous survey, while information such as the country where the fishing vessel is registered (34%) and details about the fisher or fish farmer were also viewed as important by many respondents (29%). Read more here.