European pilchard (sardine) production over time (1950–2024)
Follow european pilchard (sardine) production for the world’s countries, year by year, from 1950 to 2024.
- The country ranked first is Morocco in both 1950 and 2024. In between, the country ranked first changed 16 times. This is the first place among today’s countries: regions that later split, such as the former Soviet Union, have no values from before the split.
Japan and the leading countries
| Country | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2020 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Morocco | 113K t | 118K t | 169K t | 212K t | 346K t | 543K t | 772K t | 843K t | 544K t |
 Mauritania | – | – | – | – | – | 2.5K t | 16.7K t | 221K t | 141K t |
 Portugal | 75.2K t | 139K t | 69.2K t | 106K t | 93.5K t | 66.3K t | 63.8K t | 16.1K t | 97.8K t |
 Spain | 75.8K t | 126K t | 120K t | 210K t | 215K t | 81K t | 46.5K t | 20.5K t | 33.9K t |
 Algeria | 10.4K t | 11.1K t | 15.5K t | 26.7K t | 58K t | 47.7K t | 31.2K t | 18.4K t | 31.2K t |
 Japan | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Countries with data | 10 | 11 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 24 | 33 | 28 | 26 |
Ranking and map for any year
Choose a year to see that year’s top countries and the world map. Colors split that year’s ranking into seven steps.
| Rank | Country | European pilchard (sardine) production |
|---|
Biggest changes, 1950–2024
Compared among the countries that have data in both 1950 and 2024, ranked by how much the amount grew or shrank (the difference in quantity, not a percentage).
| Country | 1950 | 2024 | Change | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morocco | 113K t | 544K t | up 431K t | #1 → #1 |
| Portugal | 75.2K t | 97.8K t | up 22.6K t | #3 → #3 |
| Algeria | 10.4K t | 31.2K t | up 20.8K t | #6 → #5 |
 Türkiye | 3K t | 17.8K t | up 14.8K t | #9 → #8 |
 Tunisia | 2K t | 9.35K t | up 7.35K t | #10 → #11 |
| Country | 1950 | 2024 | Change | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 75.8K t | 33.9K t | down 41.9K t | #2 → #4 |
 Italy | 27.3K t | 7.7K t | down 19.6K t | #4 → #13 |
 France | 25.9K t | 19K t | down 6.9K t | #5 → #7 |
 Greece | 10K t | 5.57K t | down 4.43K t | #7 → #14 |
The number of countries differs between the years, so the ranks are not directly comparable.
All countries in key years
Open the table (countries with data)
| Country | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2020 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morocco | 113K t | 118K t | 169K t | 212K t | 346K t | 543K t | 772K t | 843K t | 544K t |
| Mauritania | – | – | – | – | – | 2.5K t | 16.7K t | 221K t | 141K t |
| Portugal | 75.2K t | 139K t | 69.2K t | 106K t | 93.5K t | 66.3K t | 63.8K t | 16.1K t | 97.8K t |
| Spain | 75.8K t | 126K t | 120K t | 210K t | 215K t | 81K t | 46.5K t | 20.5K t | 33.9K t |
| Algeria | 10.4K t | 11.1K t | 15.5K t | 26.7K t | 58K t | 47.7K t | 31.2K t | 18.4K t | 31.2K t |
 Croatia | – | – | – | – | – | 11.2K t | 29.6K t | 50.2K t | 20.1K t |
| France | 25.9K t | 19.9K t | 40.3K t | 25.9K t | 22.1K t | 29.2K t | 26.2K t | 30.1K t | 19K t |
| Türkiye | 3K t | 1.2K t | 1.4K t | 9.65K t | 18.8K t | 16.5K t | 27.6K t | 21.3K t | 17.8K t |
 Netherlands | – | 1.4K t | 100 t | 1.33K t | 6 t | 17.9K t | 46.9K t | 22.4K t | 11.2K t |
 United Kingdom | 4.2K t | 3K t | 900 t | 9.43K t | 2.09K t | 7K t | 8.22K t | 9.56K t | 10.1K t |
| Tunisia | 2K t | 3K t | 2.72K t | 12.6K t | 7.25K t | 15K t | 14.4K t | 13.5K t | 9.35K t |
 Georgia | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1.82K t | 6.86K t | 8K t |
| Italy | 27.3K t | 31.9K t | 45.3K t | 47.7K t | 37.7K t | 25.8K t | 16.3K t | 13.8K t | 7.7K t |
| Greece | 10K t | 12K t | 8.82K t | 12.1K t | 11.1K t | 16K t | 6.51K t | 10.7K t | 5.57K t |
 Russia | – | – | – | – | – | 11.2K t | 42K t | 12.2K t | 4.56K t |
 Belize | – | – | – | – | – | 398 t | 14.4K t | 4.39K t | 4.4K t |
 Ireland | – | – | – | – | – | 2.59K t | 14.1K t | 57.8 t | 3.15K t |
 Lithuania | – | – | – | – | – | 292 t | 27.2K t | 288 t | 763 t |
 Senegal | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2.43K t | 608 t |
 Albania | – | – | – | – | 3.82K t | 45 t | 104 t | 384 t | 549 t |
 Montenegro | – | – | – | – | – | – | 35 t | 162 t | 252 t |
 Poland | – | – | 6 t | – | – | – | 1.64K t | 1 t | 48.7 t |
 Denmark | – | – | – | 9.91K t | 7.31K t | 7.89K t | 48 t | 3.22K t | 9 t |
 Norway | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0.039 t | 1 t |
 Slovenia | – | – | – | – | – | 1.42K t | 403 t | 4.32 t | 1 t |
 Cyprus | – | – | 1 t | – | – | 189 t | 3 t | 0.783 t | 0.723 t |
 Belgium | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1.2 t | – |
 Bulgaria | – | – | – | 24.8K t | – | – | 8 t | – | – |
 China | – | – | – | – | 8 t | – | 2.55K t | – | – |
 Cuba | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
 Germany | – | – | 2.1K t | 10.5K t | 327 t | 307 t | 445 t | 11.5K t | – |
 Ecuador | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
 Estonia | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
 Honduras | – | – | – | – | 3 t | – | – | – | – |
 Comoros | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4.22K t | – | – |
 St. Kitts & Nevis | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3.08K t | – | – |
 South Korea | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
 Latvia | – | – | – | – | – | 633 t | 9.76K t | – | – |
 Malta | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 t | – | – |
 Panama | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
 Romania | – | – | – | 4.54K t | 16.8K t | – | – | – | – |
 Sweden | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
 Ukraine | – | – | – | – | – | 43.5K t | 14.4K t | – | – |
 St. Vincent & Grenadines | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4.27K t | – | – |
| Countries with data | 10 | 11 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 24 | 33 | 28 | 26 |
Notes on reading this history
Yearly values come from the same statistics of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FishStat). The number of countries with data differs by year, so each year’s ranks are given only among the countries that have data that year. Countries that produce none (zero) are not ranked. Weather and harvests make the yearly values go up and down. The “latest value” on the ranking page uses each country’s latest year, so it does not always match the ranks for a single year.
The weight is wild catch and farmed production added together, counted as live weight: the whole animal as it was caught or harvested, before it is gutted, shelled or processed. It is more than the weight of the food you buy.
Regions that later split into several countries, such as the former Soviet Union, have a value for each new country only from the year it split. So older years have fewer countries with data, and values from before a split cannot be compared country by country with today’s countries. See the “Countries with data” row in the table.
Source: FAO. 2026. FishStat: Global production by production source. In: FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Division [online]. Rome. Updated 2026. Accessed on 05 November 2026. https://www.fao.org/fishery/en/collection/global_production Licence: CC-BY-4.0. Processed by this site. fao.org/fishery
FishStat data last updated: 2026-03-30
More indicators over time
- Latest ranking: European pilchard (sardine) production
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