U.S. seafood imports exceeded exports by $20.3 billion in 2023

Consumer demand for seafood in the United States has risen over the last three decades. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, per capita consumption of seafood products (includes canned, fresh, frozen, and cured) reached an estimated 20.5 pounds per person in 2021. To meet rising consumer demand, the United States increasingly relies on global suppliers to supplement domestic production. About 80 percent of estimated U.S. consumption of seafood comes from abroad—primarily from Canada, Chile, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. From 1995 to 2023, the value of U.S. seafood imports, adjusted for inflation, trended upward, with notable exceptions related to the global economic recession and the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. U.S. seafood exports dropped about 23 percent, while imports expanded about 87 percent during the same period. The expanding deficit in trade value (imports minus exports) peaked in 2021 at $25.8 billion (in 2023 dollars) and was recorded at $20.3 billion in 2023. As a supplier, the United States ranked 10th in 2022 in seafood exports worldwide. This chart is drawn from the USDA, Economic Research Service topic page on aquaculture.

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