Where in the World Do People Eat the Most Canned Fish?

The short answer

There is no single defensible league table of “canned fish consumption” covering every country. Public sources measure different things: household purchases, retail sales, apparent consumption, imports, exports or broader prepared-and-preserved fish categories.

The most transparent global comparison available for this article is trade. In 2023, the United States was the largest individual-country gross importer across six selected prepared and preserved fish headings, while Japan, Germany, Italy, Spain, France and the United Kingdom also formed major markets. That does not mean imports equal what residents ate.

Trade data can reveal the scale and direction of a market. It cannot, by itself, reveal the contents of a national plate.

What exactly did we measure?

We downloaded reporter trade with the World partner from UN Comtrade as distributed through World Bank WITS. The selected HS 1988/92 headings cover prepared or preserved salmon (160411), herring (160412), sardines, sardinella, brisling and sprats (160413), tuna, skipjack and bonito (160414), mackerel (160415), and other whole or pieced prepared fish (160419).

The dataset uses 2023 net quantities in kilograms and current US-dollar trade values. It excludes regional aggregates from the country ranking and uses World Bank population only for the explicitly labelled per-resident import proxy.

These headings are broader than metal cans. They can include jars, pouches and other prepared or preserved formats. Domestic production, re-exports, inventory changes, waste and informal trade are not resolved.

Where the largest import markets are

The combined ranking identifies large destination markets for selected prepared fish rather than a measure of taste or cultural importance. The United States leads by gross quantity, followed by Japan and several large European markets.

Market size reflects population, purchasing power, established retail categories, domestic supply and trading roles. A country may import heavily and re-export part of that volume; another may consume substantial domestic production without appearing high in an import ranking.

Tuna is the category’s global heavyweight

Prepared or preserved tuna, skipjack and bonito is the largest and most internationally distributed of the selected headings. The United States, Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan are major import markets by reported net quantity.

On the export side, Thailand leads by a wide margin in 2023, followed by China, Spain, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. The ranking demonstrates an industrial and trading network, not the origin of every fish or the final ownership of every brand.

Sardines and sprats tell a different story

HS 160413 brings several commercial and biological groups together: sardines, sardinella, brisling and sprats. Morocco and China are the largest reported exporters in the 2023 data, followed by Thailand. Latvia appears among the ten largest country exporters by net quantity.

That combined heading is useful for trade comparison but cannot tell us how much of a country’s total is Sardina pilchardus, Sprattus sprattus or another species. Product-level naming and destination-market labelling still matter.

A per-resident indicator — with a warning label

Dividing gross imports by population can make smaller, highly engaged markets visible. Portugal, Spain, Italy, Estonia, France, the United Kingdom and Latvia rank strongly in this selected indicator.

This is not per-capita consumption. Imports can be processed, stored, wasted or re-exported, while domestic production is absent from the numerator. It is best read as an indicator of import availability and market intensity.

Six species groups, six different markets

Tuna supplies mass-market convenience and globally standardised formats. Sardines and sprats combine everyday value with regional traditions and premium conservas. Salmon occupies both mainstream and premium positions. Herring remains important in northern and eastern European food cultures. Mackerel offers an oily-fish alternative, while the residual “other fish” heading gathers many products that should not be treated as one species story.

The composition of a national market therefore matters as much as the total. Two countries with similar volumes may be buying very different products.

Why the industry matters to coastal economies

Prepared seafood connects vessels, aquaculture, ports, processors, packaging suppliers, laboratories, logistics and retailers. Its economic value is not confined to the fish inside a container.

EUMOFA reports that Latvia’s fish-processing sector employed 2,568 people in 2023 and generated EUR 62 million in value added. Portugal’s sector employed 9,580 and generated EUR 306 million in value added. These national profiles use a broader fish-processing scope than the six trade headings, so they are context rather than a direct extension of the chart.

Four production and trading case studies

Thailand’s tuna exports show the scale possible when processing capacity, sourcing networks and export logistics converge. Spain combines a large domestic market with significant exports. Morocco is a major sardine exporter, while Latvia has a specialised position in sardines, brisling and sprats.

These examples should not be reduced to a single factory model. Species, labour, vessel structure, certification, packaging and destination-market requirements differ materially.

Brands make a global category legible

Major companies have helped standardise expectations around format, convenience and availability. Rio Mare and its Bolton heritage, Thai Union’s international portfolio, Dongwon in Korea and Century Pacific in the Philippines illustrate different paths from regional strength to large-scale seafood brands.

Company-reported scale or market position is not independent market research. Brand sources are used here only for corporate history and portfolio context, not to manufacture a global market-share ranking.

A map of flows, not a map of appetite

The strongest importing markets cluster in North America, Europe and Japan, while major exporters span Southeast Asia, East Asia, southern Europe, North Africa and the Indian Ocean. The network reflects fishing grounds, processing centres, trade agreements, logistics and demand.

A route on a trade map should never be mistaken for biological origin or proof that a product was caught, processed and consumed in the same country.

What the numbers cannot tell us

The data do not identify retail channel, package material, drained weight, household waste, restaurant use or who ultimately consumed a product. Quantity and value can also be revised by reporting authorities.

For rigorous comparison, every chart on this page carries its own metric, year, unit, source, method and limitation. The downloadable file preserves the rows used, so an independent reader can reproduce or challenge the ranking.

The honest conclusion

People eat prepared seafood around the world, but the category is not one uniform habit. Large import markets, specialised production countries and strong per-resident trade indicators each answer a different question.

The most useful conclusion is not a winner. It is a clearer map of how tuna, sardines, sprats, salmon, herring and mackerel move through the world — and an equally clear account of what those movements do not prove.