What EU country was the biggest producer of aquaculture in 2023?

Spain was the biggest aquaculture producer in the European Union in 2023, accounting for 23.1% (242,754 tonnes) of the bloc’s total production, according to Eurostat data.

Other major aquaculture producers in the EU included France (186 561 tonnes; 17.8% of the EU total) and Greece (140,908 tonnes; 13.4% of the total), with Italy next, producing 129,746 tonnes.

There is then quite a gap to the next-biggest aquaculture producer in the EU, the Netherlands, with a total of 41,135 tonnes produced, followed by Poland (40,667 tonnes), Germany (35,079 tonnes) and Ireland (32,762 tonnes).

The lowest aquaculture producer in the EU is Belgium, which produces just 261 tonnes, followed by Latvia with 786 tonnes and Estonia with 918 tonnes.

Over the last 15 years – i.e. from 2008 to 2023 – the volume of EU aquaculture production has remained relatively stable, at around 1.1 million tonnes.

In key producing countries, however, production has altered – in Greece, production has grown steadily, in Spain it has tapered off since 2018, and in France it has remained relatively stable since 2018.

The most farmed species by weight were mussels, making up 34.5% of total production, followed by trout (15.8%) and gilthead seabream (10.0%), Eurostat’s data showed.

In terms of market value, meanwhile, trout emerged as the most valuable species, contributing 17.7% to the total aquaculture revenue, ahead of seabass (13.3%) and gilthead seabream (12.0%). Read more here.

Aquaculture Production by EU Member State, 2023 (tonnes)