Alaskan salmon are no longer the favorite fish of the Germans
Fast 420,000 metric tons of fish and seafood crossed sales counters and quays last year. While this was less than the previous year, consumers spent more overall. Germans still prefer canned and frozen products.
Rising prices have dampened German households' enthusiasm for fish and seafood. Last year, they bought 418,240 metric tons, a decrease of around 4.2% from 2022, according to Petra Weigl, head of the Fish Information Centre in Hamburg. However, they spent nearly 5.1 billion euros, an increase of almost 3.7% from the previous year.
"This is a record only surpassed by the two exceptional years during the COVID-19 pandemic," Weigl explained. In 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, Germans bought nearly 401,000 metric tons and spent around 4.1 billion euros. The average price per kilogram then was 9.80 euros, reaching 12.13 euros last year, a new high. Smoked fish, in particular, became more expensive, costing 22.56 euros per kilogram by the end of the year.
Last year, salmon replaced Alaska pollock as Germans' favorite fish. Following them were tuna, herring, and shrimp, as in the previous year. Germans preferred fish from cans and frozen, followed by crustaceans, mollusks, and fresh fish.
The most fish was traditionally consumed in the northern part of the country. Schleswig-Holstein residents consumed 6.7 kilograms per capita, overtaking Bremen's 6.4 kilograms. Hamburg and Lower Saxony followed with 6.1 kilograms each. An outlier among the northern states was Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, ranking 12th in fish consumption. For the second year in a row, Baden-Württemberg had the lowest consumption, at 4.7 kilograms per capita.
Despite the decrease in the volume of fish and seafood consumption in Germany last year, the overall spending increased due to rising prices. Specifically, Germans spent 5.1 billion euros on 418,240 metric tons of fish and seafood, demonstrating a nearly 3.7% increase in expenditure compared to the previous year.
Even with a decline in the consumption of fish and seafood in Germany, the favorite fish for Germans shifted from Alaska pollock to salmon in 2023. Despite this change, the consumption pattern continued with canned and frozen fish being most popular, followed by crustaceans and mollusks.
