Seafood production: wild fish catch vs. aquaculture in Japan

Japan: Seafood production: wild fish catch vs. aquaculture was 802,045 metric tons in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
802,045 metric tons
Change on year
down 9.1%
World rank
15th
of 215 countries
All-time high
1.43 million metric tons
in 1988
All-time low
308,044 metric tons
in 1960
Years of data
65
1960–2024

Seafood production: wild fish catch vs. aquaculture in Japan, 1960–2024

250.0k500.0k750.0k1.0M1.2M1.5M196019922024

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in metric tons.

Analysis

In 2024, seafood production: wild fish catch vs. aquaculture in Japan stood at 802,045 metric tons.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 9.1% on the previous year and down 21.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, seafood production: wild fish catch vs. aquaculture in Japan peaked at 1.43 million metric tons in 1988 and was at its lowest, 308,044 metric tons, in 1960.

Japan ranks 15th of 215 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 65 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 433,291 metric tons 308,044 metric tons 574,487 metric tons 10
1970s 845,996 metric tons 597,395 metric tons 1.01 million metric tons 10
1980s 1.20 million metric tons 1.04 million metric tons 1.43 million metric tons 10
1990s 1.36 million metric tons 1.29 million metric tons 1.42 million metric tons 10
2000s 1.27 million metric tons 1.19 million metric tons 1.39 million metric tons 10
2010s 1.04 million metric tons 907,972 metric tons 1.15 million metric tons 10
2020s 917,225 metric tons 802,045 metric tons 998,939 metric tons 5

Countries ranked near Japan

  1. 12 Myanmar 1.21 million metric tons compare
  2. 13 Thailand 998,645 metric tons compare
  3. 14 Brazil 882,935 metric tons compare
  4. 16 Iran 709,391 metric tons compare
  5. 17 North Korea 685,700 metric tons compare
  6. 18 Turkey 577,124 metric tons compare

See the full ranking of 215 places →

More reference data data for Japan

All data for Japan →

Frequently asked questions

What is seafood production: wild fish catch vs. aquaculture in Japan?
Seafood production: wild fish catch vs. aquaculture in Japan was 802,045 metric tons in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest seafood production: wild fish catch vs. aquaculture recorded in Japan?
The highest recorded value was 1.43 million metric tons in 1988.
What is the lowest seafood production: wild fish catch vs. aquaculture recorded in Japan?
The lowest recorded value was 308,044 metric tons in 1960.
How does Japan rank for seafood production: wild fish catch vs. aquaculture?
Japan ranks 15th out of 215 countries with data for 2024.
Is seafood production: wild fish catch vs. aquaculture rising or falling in Japan?
Over the last ten years it is down 21.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Japan data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Seafood production: wild fish catch vs. aquaculture. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Seafood production: wild fish catch vs. aquaculture
Unit
metric tons
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
215 places, 12,849 data points, 1960–2024
Last refreshed

Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic organisms including fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants. Capture fishery production is the volume of wild fish catches landed for all commercial, industrial, recreational and subsistence purposes.