Global Fisheries & Aquaculture: The 2024 Scorecard
Global fisheries and aquaculture production reached a record 235 million tonnes in 2024, including 195 million tonnes of aquatic animals, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2026 (SOFIA 2026) report — launched on 16 June 2026 at the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, Kenya.
Aquaculture Crosses 100 Million Tonnes for the First Time
The headline milestone: farmed aquatic animal production topped 100 million tonnes for the first time, reaching 103 million tonnes in 2024 — valued at $371 billion at the farm gate. Including seaweeds and algae, total aquaculture production hit 141 million tonnes valued at $391 billion. Since the late 1980s, nearly all growth in aquatic production has come from aquaculture.
| Indicator | 2024 Value |
|---|---|
| Total global production (fish + aquaculture) | 235 million tonnes |
| Aquatic animal production | 195 million tonnes |
| Farmed aquatic animals | 103 million tonnes ($371 billion) |
| Aquaculture incl. algae | 141 million tonnes ($391 billion) |
| Capture fisheries (aquatic animals) | 92 million tonnes (80 million tonnes marine) |
| Share of aquatic animal output from farming | 53% |
| Share of aquatic animal food from farming | Over 59% |
Wild fisheries, meanwhile, have plateaued: capture output of aquatic animals reached 92 million tonnes in 2024 and has remained within the 86–94 million tonnes range since the late 1980s.
Sustainability Snapshot
- 72.6% of all landings in 2023 originated from biologically sustainable stocks.
- Tuna catches reached a record 9.3 million tonnes in 2024.
- Anchoveta catches rebounded 109% — rising to over 5.0 million tonnes from 2.4 million tonnes in 2023.
- Inland fisheries hit a record 12.3 million tonnes in 2024.
- FAO projects total aquatic animal production to reach 214 million tonnes by 2034.
- Under high-emissions scenarios, exploitable fish biomass is projected to decline by over 10% by 2050 in several regions.
Food Security & Trade at Record Highs
Eighty-nine percent of aquatic animal production goes to human consumption, supplying at least one-fifth of the animal protein intake of 3.1 billion people. Global per capita availability of aquatic animal food averaged 21.1 kg in 2023, rising to an estimated 21.3 kg in 2024. Trade in aquatic animal products reached $184 billion — now rivalling terrestrial meat trade in value, with more than one-third of global production traded internationally. Between 1976 and 2024, export value rose more than twenty-threefold. The sector supports over 600 million livelihoods worldwide.
The Uneven Plate
Availability remains deeply unequal: while Asia averages 26.3 kg per person, Africa manages only 9.1 kg per individual — less than half the global average. FAO frames this as the central equity challenge for its Blue Transformation Roadmap 2022–2030, which aims to improve sustainability, productivity and inclusiveness across aquatic food systems.
What It Means for Fishers and Farmers
- Farming now drives more than half of all aquatic animal output — investment in aquaculture technology and training is where the growth is.
- Sustainable-stock management pays: effective management of some fishery stocks is cited for the stabilization of wild catch.
- Small-scale fishers remain a priority — FAO is helping countries implement the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries, while regional fishery bodies coordinate on shared stocks and IUU fishing.
Source: FAO, SOFIA 2026 newsroom release (published 16 June 2026) — Rome/Mombasa. All figures verified as of 22 October 2026 against the official FAO release.