Japan’s Marine Product Imports Reach a Record ¥2 Trillion in 2022

According to the 2022 White Paper on Fisheries, the import volume of marine products into Japan last year saw an increase of 0.9% to 2.22 million tons. However, disruption to the supply chain due to the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine War as well as depreciation of the yen meant there was a sharp rise of 28.6% in the import value to almost ¥2.1 trillion.

Salmon and trout accounted for the highest share of the import value (13.4% of total imports). Bonito and tuna (11.2%) and shrimps (10.7%) also appeared in the top three. Among the main countries from which Japan imported its marine products, China supplied the most with 17.6% of the total, followed by Chile at 9.5%, the United States at 8.3%, Russia at 7.5%, and Vietnam at 7.4%.

In 2022, Japan’s export volume of marine products fell by 3.8% year-on-year to 634,000 tons. The export value though increased by 28.5% to ¥387.3 billion. The main export destinations were China (22.5%), Hong Kong (19.5%), and the United States (13.9%). These three territories accounted for more than 50% of the total export value generated. The top products exported were scallops, accounting for 23.5% of total exports, buri (yellowtail )with 9.4%, and pearls at 6.1%. Japan’s government has set a target to achieve ¥1.2 trillion for marine product export value by 2030 and have allocated buri, sea bream, scallops, pearls, and nishikigoi carp as priority products.

The White Paper also revealed that Japan’s fishing industry and aquaculture production volume had dropped to 4.21 million tons, down 20,000 tons from the previous year. Production value, however, increased by ¥60.2 billion to ¥1.40 trillion over the same period. The number of workers in the fishing industry stood at 129,320, equating to a production value per person of ¥10.8 million and producing fishery income of ¥5.32 million.

Consumption trend shows that while annual per capita consumption of edible seafood in Japan peaked at 40.2 kilograms in 2001, as of 2021, that figure had dropped by almost half to an estimated 23.2 kilograms.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)