Fisheries revenues at their lowest in ten years

The year 2021 was also an exceptional year for the fisheries industry. The markets were still reeling from the effects of the pandemic, and the first indications of an energy crisis began to emerge. Revenues in the fisheries sector continued to decline in 2021, reaching their lowest point in over a decade. The total revenue of fishing enterprises amounted to €836 million, employing 2,125 person-years in the sector.

A total of 1,765 companies operated in the fishery industry in 2021. The data concern companies that are engaged in commercial fishery, aquaculture, fish processing, wholesale and retail. For inland fishery, statistics only include class 1 commercial fishermen. Of all fishery industry companies, some 70 per cent were fishing companies, with most of these being small companies operating in coastal areas.

Majority of fisheries revenues were generated through fish processing (51%) and wholesale fish trade (26%). The total amount of fisheries revenues reached EUR 836 million. Overall, revenues in the fisheries sectors were mostly lower compared to 2020, experiencing a decrease of EUR 20 million. 134 million of the revenues were generated in primary production, of which commercial fisheries accounted for just over EUR 50 million.

The net result for marine fisheries was EUR 6.9 million, but the best result was recorded by fish wholesalers, EUR 9.4 million.  The net result of inland fishing companies was around EUR 1 million, while the result of fish processing companies deteriorated further and turned negative, with a loss of EUR 2.5 million. The retail trade made a loss of zero and aquaculture companies made a loss of EUR 13.6 million. The value added generated by the fisheries sector amounted to EUR 140 million and employment to 2 125 man-years.

Information in EconomyDoctor and luke.fi

Financial indicators of fishery industry companies are published in Luke’s EconomyDoctor and statistics database. Financial indicators for 2008–2021 are available in Finnish, Swedish and English. The companies’ financial indicators can be viewed in the case of processing and fish trade by company size, in the case of aquaculture by production line, and in the case of fishing by form of fishing. Data on coastal fishery can also be filtered according to turnover.