The global value of aquaculture production reached €296 billion (312 billion USD) in 2022 (FAO, 2024). The sector has increased production more than 4 times since 1990. However, this growth has primarily been driven by Asian countries producing almost 90% of the world's aquaculture products. China is the most important producer of aquaculture products in the world, producing 57% of the global aquaculture products. European Union aquaculture production represented only 0.86% of the world aquaculture production in terms of weight and 1.6% in value (STECF-24-14_EU).
Since 2011, the overall EU production seems to be rather stable, between 1.1 and 1.2 million tons. A noticeable decrease is observed between 2010 and 2013, which was mainly due to a decrease in the production of mussels affected by environmental conditions, such as “red ties” in Spain, and shellfish diseases. The recovery from 2013 to 2016 can again be explained by increasing productions of shellfish, catching up from earlier year’s production. Since then, production has remained stagnant, and even after growing slightly during 2021 and 2022, the estimate for 2023 reflects a new decline (STECF-24-14_EU).