2019 world fish & seafood sales amounted to 107.4 million tons. While the share of North America in world fish and seafood sales is only 1.84%, the Asia-Pacific region is the world’s largest area for consumption of fish and seafood with 77.5% of sales (as of the end of 2019). The leading sales position in the region belongs to China with 53% of all sales.
While the United States supplies 8% (or 0.32 million tons) of all imported fish to China, Russia is the largest supplier of fish raw materials to China with 27% or 1.1 million tons of fish and seafood products.
According to a survey of Chinese consumers conducted in 2020-2021, the main fish consumers in China are young adults aged 25-35 with a family monthly income over $3000. This population inhabits level 1-2 cities and consumes fish 1-3 times a week. The safety of the product is their most important concern followed be the price, and then the taste of the product. According to consumer surveys, about 40% choose crab meat, 38% fish, and the rest is divided between shellfish and caviar. About 60% prefer to buy at discounts.
The United States fish ranks second in preference for fish and seafood among Chinese consumers, and follows fish and seafood from South Asia. Almost 19% of the respondents reported the USA fish as their first preference. Fish from aquaculture is inferior in consumer preferences to wild fish due to the large amount of aquaculture in China. Consumers aged 25-40 in China tend to consume more processed fish and seafood.