Countries by Aquaculture production (metric tons)

Ranking 2023

Analysis

This metric measures aquaculture production in metric tons across 215 countries, sourced from the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator code ER.FSH.AQUA.MT) for the data year 2023. Aquaculture is understood to mean the farming of aquatic organisms including fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants. Aquaculture production specifically refers to output from aquaculture activities, which are designated for final harvest for consumption. The unit is absolute metric tons. All 215 countries have data from within the last seven years, and 100% of data points carry official quality designation. The viability checks identified 16 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold, and the data range spans from 0 to 78,276,940.6 metric tons, a spread the checks flag at 999%.

The top of the ranking is heavily concentrated in Asia. China (Rank 1) produces 78,276,940.6 metric tons, Indonesia (Rank 2) produces 15,361,425.4 metric tons, and India (Rank 3) produces 11,321,123 metric tons. Viet Nam (Rank 4) follows at 5,378,859.6 metric tons and Bangladesh (Rank 5) at 2,852,572 metric tons. Outside Asia, Norway (Rank 8) at 1,649,984.2 metric tons and Chile (Rank 10) at 1,502,919 metric tons are the highest-placed non-Asian producers, reflecting significant marine and salmon farming activity visible in their reported output values.

The middle ranks show notable geographic diversity. Egypt (Rank 9) at 1,552,430 metric tons ranks ahead of Chile and is the highest-placed African nation. Ecuador (Rank 11) at 1,234,088 metric tons places ahead of Japan (Rank 14) at 879,361.1 metric tons. The Faroe Islands (Rank 43) at 98,245 metric tons rank ahead of several much larger countries including Guatemala (Rank 49) at 42,490.3 metric tons and Sweden (Rank 80) at 11,425.2 metric tons. North Korea (Rank 16) at 680,700 metric tons places above Iran (Rank 17) at 616,650 metric tons and Turkiye (Rank 18) at 556,296 metric tons.

Several data limitations apply to this metric. Reported values depend on national statistical systems, and the accuracy of self-reported figures varies by country. Countries with limited administrative capacity may underreport production or lack the infrastructure to capture informal or subsistence aquaculture. The metric counts output designated for final harvest for consumption, but differences in how countries classify processing waste, seed stock, or non-food aquatic plant production may affect comparability. The 16 extreme outliers identified at the 3-sigma threshold, most prominently China, can compress the apparent differences among mid-ranked countries when viewed in aggregate. Zero values for 19 countries may reflect genuine absence of aquaculture activity or gaps in data collection rather than confirmed zero production.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code ER.FSH.AQUA.MT, for the reference year 2023. The metric measures aquaculture production in metric tons. Per the source definition: aquaculture is understood to mean the farming of aquatic organisms including fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants. Aquaculture production specifically refers to output from aquaculture activities, which are designated for final harvest for consumption. The ranking covers 215 countries, all of which have data from within the last seven years (100% recency) and all of which carry official data quality designation (100%). Viability checks identified 16 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold. The data range runs from 0.0 to 78,276,940.6 metric tons, flagged as a 999% spread. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 39.2%, below the 50% volatility threshold. No microstates under 1 million population are present in the dataset.

Sources

• World Bank