Swedish seafood consumption 2023

Knowledge of how much seafood is consumed in Sweden is important for understanding the current situation and being able to follow developments over time, especially in relation to national goals and dietary recommendations for increasing production and consumption. This report presents a calculation of Swedish seafood consumption, where trade data (import-export) and production from Swedish fisheries and aquaculture have been compiled to estimate the total volumes of seafood consumed nationally. This approach provides a picture of the theoretical self-sufficiency rate and an overview of species and production systems that are important. The report is the fourth from RISE on Swedish seafood consumption and is based on data for 2023.

The results show that there were 108,661 tonnes of seafood in edible form available for Swedish consumption in 2023, which corresponds to 1.6 portions per person per week. In 2019, consumption was 1.9 portions/week, which means that we have come further away from reaching the Swedish National Food Agency’s recommended intake of 2-3 portions/week. Swedish consumption was dominated (77%) by ten species/species groups, in line with previous years. The species that continue to be most important for consumption were (in descending order) salmon, herring, shrimp and cod. 73% of the total volume was imported and 27% from Swedish production, which shows a marginal decrease in import share compared to 2019, when it was 74%. However, in terms of total volume, both imports and Swedish production have decreased. Swedish production consisted mainly of commercial fishing at sea (66%), followed by aquaculture (15%), recreational fishing (14%) and commercial fishing in freshwater (2%). However, statistics for aquaculture are uncertain due to insufficient information in public production data.

Interpreting and using parts of the public statistics has proven challenging in various ways in all calculations of Swedish seafood consumption, especially available data on herring and sprat, but also for Swedish aquaculture. This fourth compilation revealed further ambiguities and changes in public data compilations that complicate the overall picture of production, trade flows and consumption. This underline the importance of a review and quality assurance of public statistics, in order for more robust results and compilations to be achieved in the long term.

The fact that Sweden’s seafood consumption is decreasing is in line with other surveys based on other data, such as the Norwegian Seafood Council’s consumer survey, where price of seafood is pointed out as a decisive factor. However, the same survey shows that 7 out of 10 Swedes want to increase their consumption of seafood, which is a potential that should be taken advantage of to align with dietary recommendations. However, it requires concerted efforts on several levels within the food system, not least increased domestic seafood production in line with the vision for the Swedish food strategy until 2020.