China Remains The Largest Exporter Of Marine Products

China's seafood imports rose from $8 billion in 2015 to $17 billion in 2021, surpassing Japan's 2020 imports, which currently stand at $14 billion. The increase was driven by shrimp, fishmeal, crab and salmon, all showing double-digit year-on-year growth and collectively accounting for 94 percent of import growth.

Only the European Union, Britain and the United States are bigger importers of seafood than China. The value of EU imports rose slightly from us $34.6 billion in 2018 to US $34.9 billion in 2021, after falling to US $31.7 billion in 2020. The US figure rose from us $22.6 billion in 2015 to US $28.1 billion in 2021, reflecting the strength of the US economy, driven mainly by increased imports of salmon, shrimp, crabs and lobsters, which accounted for 91 percent of total new imports.

As the map shows, us shrimp, salmon and crab imports grew at a cagR of 7.1%, 10.3% and 19%, respectively, from 2016 to 2021.

Gorjan Nikolik draws attention to some of the more important trade flows listed on the map, the largest of which is the "$8.7 billion salmon trade flow" that stretches from Norway to the European Union, passing through Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Spain.

From 2013 to 2021, China's imports grew at a compound annual rate of 4.4 percent, while imports grew at a compound annual rate of 10.1 percent, highlighting a shift in demand for more expensive forms of seafood protein. Meanwhile, the United States experienced a 7.1 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2016 to 2021, with salmon up 10.3 percent, crab 19 percent and lobster 17 percent.

Since 2013, high-value species such as shrimp and salmon have fared very well, growing at a cagR of 6% and 2% in number and 3.3% and 2.8% in value, respectively. High-value proteins such as beef, shrimp and salmon fared better during the pandemic, with trade volumes up 16 percent, 17 percent and 20 percent year-on-year, respectively.