Fish consumption grows 65% in Brazil since 2004

When was the last time you ate fish? Do you have any idea how many kilos of fish you consume per year? According to the Associação Brasileira da Piscicultura (Peixe BR), the Brazilian eats about 10 kilos of fish per year and the peak of consumption occurs during Holy Week, between March and April. Then there is a drop until August or September, when fish consumption resumes.

But when it comes to the consumption of farmed fish, such as tilapia, tambaqui and others, Brazilian consumption drops to 5 kilos per year. “It’s too little. Brazilian fish farming is a professional activity that is rapidly developing”, says the executive president of Peixe BR, Francisco Medeiros.

In order to leverage fish consumption in the second half of the year and make it a daily practice for Brazilians, the Fish Week will hold its 20th edition between September 1st and 15th, with decentralized actions nationwide. Since the first edition, in 2004, the event created by the Ministry of Fisheries and currently organized by the private sector, has seen consumption increase from 6.5 kilos of fish per inhabitant per year to the current 10 kilos per year. an increase of 65%”, emphasizes the president of the International Fish Congress & Fish Expo Brasil (IFC Brasil) and member of the national coordination of the event, Altemir Gregolin. “The dream, however, is to have consumption throughout the year”, added the former Minister of Fisheries.

The president of IFC Brasil highlighted that each Brazilian region has more consumed and more widespread species. There are around 20 species of farmed fish alone, although some stand out among the rest, such as tilapia, shrimp and tambaqui. The 65% increase in consumption in 20 years reflected a 60% expansion in production. “And even so, this increase in production did not meet the demand for fish”. In 2022, the country imported US$ 1.4 billion in fish, against US$ 300 million exported. “It means that we are a gigantic country, with an infinity of species and a huge potential, but still in deficit”, analyzes Gregolin.

tilapia is dominant

According to the 2023 Peixe BR da Piscicultura Yearbook, in 2022 alone, 860,355 tons of fish were cultivated in Brazil, with revenue of around BRL 9 billion. This production is spread across 26 states, in addition to the Federal District and the champion state in the production ranking is Paraná, with 194 thousand tons.

Tilapia is the most cultivated fish in Brazilian fish farming, according to data from the yearbook. Last year, 550,060 tons of the species were produced throughout Brazil, a volume that represents 63.93% of the national production of farmed fish.

Paraná is the state that produces the most tilapia, with more than 34% of the total volume in the country. In 2022, people from Paraná cultivated 187,800 tons of the species, 3.2% more than in the previous year. Commercial tilapia farming takes place in 363 of the 399 municipalities in Paraná. Nova Aurora, in the west of the state, which has just over 10,000 inhabitants, is the leader in the ranking, representing 13.82% of the total. In 2022, the negotiation of tilapia from Paraná took place with 34 countries.

Gregolin argues that if Brazil increases fish consumption by one kilo per inhabitant per year, this would represent 200,000 tons of processed product. “If we are going to turn this into live fish, we have to produce 500,000 tons more. See the giant potential of our market”, he said, recalling that Brazil is the fourth largest producer of tilapia in the world, behind China, Indonesia and Egypt.

national preference

Between April and May 2022, the Axxus Institute, a startup based at Unicamp’s Science and Technology Park, interviewed 4,200 people – most of them in person – in all regions of the country, of all age groups and social classes and who had purchasing power, to know the consumption habits of Brazilians in relation to fish.

The results are more than encouraging for national fish farming, especially for the tilapia production chain. According to the study, carried out in partnership with Peixe BR, 93.2% of the public consulted eat fish and 83% believe that this is the healthiest animal protein.

The clipping on tilapia is also an incentive for the market: 76.9% of participants said they consumed the species, and a good part of them would eat more. According to the survey, the inclusion of tilapia in the Brazilian diet is highly motivated by factors related to health and well-being.

Among the characteristics most cited by respondents about fish are the fact that it is tasty and healthy; contain a lot of protein, vitamins and omega 3; have easy digestion; help maintain weight; not having fat; and have few pimples. On the other hand, they would like to find the product at the point of sale more easily and with more cut options.