Data as of: KREI Food Balance Sheet 2024 edition (2024 values provisional) and Korea’s e-Narajipyo indicator 1317, updated October 13, 2026.
South Korea’s seafood consumption was 59.9 kg per person in 2024 (provisional), according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF), which builds the figure from the Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) Food Balance Sheet. That total includes seaweed. Counting fish and shellfish only, KREI puts Korea’s 2024 supply at 35.1 kg per person.
Key takeaways
- Korea’s per-capita seafood consumption was 59.9 kg in 2024 (provisional), down from a peak of 70.2 kg in 2019, according to MOF’s e-Narajipyo indicator based on the KREI Food Balance Sheet.
- Korea’s fish and shellfish supply was 35.1 kg per person in 2024 (provisional), net of inedible parts, according to KREI’s Food Balance Sheet 2024 edition.
- On MOF’s e-Narajipyo series, which starts in 1999, Korea’s per-capita meat consumption passed seafood for the first time in 2022, at 67.3 kg against 63.5 kg.
How much seafood does the average South Korean eat?
59.9 kg a year on MOF’s headline measure (2024), or 35.1 kg counting fish (19.2 kg) and shellfish (15.9 kg) only. Both come from KREI’s Food Balance Sheet.
Definition. Korea’s per-capita seafood figures measure food supply: production plus imports and stocks, minus exports, feed, seed and losses, divided by the population. KREI then removes inedible parts such as bones and shells to get net supply per person. KREI states that supply is not the same as intake.
Why do sources give different per-capita numbers?
Four things explain most of the spread: what each source counts, inedible parts, the year shown and forecasts.
| Figure | Year | Publisher | Fish and shellfish basis | Seaweed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 59.9 kg | 2024, provisional | MOF, e-Narajipyo (from KREI) | Net of inedible parts | Included, full weight |
| 35.1 kg | 2024, provisional | KREI, Food Balance Sheet 2024 | Net of inedible parts | Excluded |
| 38.4 kg | 2024, provisional | KREI (35.1 + 3.3) | Net of inedible parts | Included, net |
| 60.9 kg | 2023, preliminary | USDA, citing KREI 2023 edition | Same basis as MOF; MOF’s series now shows 60.7 kg | Included, full weight |
| 66.8 kg | 2025, estimate | KMI outlook, quoted in a January 2026 column | “Net edible supply”; method not given | Not stated |
| 61 kg | Not stated | Norwegian Seafood Council | No definition or source given | Not stated |
| 58.4 kg | 2013–2015 average | MOF in 2017, citing FAO | FAO apparent consumption | Excluded (FAO basis) |
| 20.7 kg | 2022, world | FAO, SOFIA 2024 | Aquatic animal foods, live weight equivalent | Excluded |
Sources: e-Narajipyo indicator 1317 (updated October 13, 2026); KREI Food Balance Sheet 2023 and 2024 editions; USDA GAIN KS2025-0046; Korea Fisheries Economy, January 23, 2026; Norwegian Seafood Council; Metro Seoul, February 12, 2017; FAO SOFIA 2024.
What is inside MOF’s total. MOF’s 59.9 kg equals KREI’s 35.1 kg of fish and shellfish plus about 24.8 kg of seaweed per person at full weight. The same sum reproduces MOF’s 2023 and 2021 values. MOF does not publish the formula, so this is a reconstruction.
A break in KREI’s series. KREI’s own per-person figure for that group fell from 25.6 kg in 2022 to 3.3 kg in 2023 and 2024, after KREI began applying an 87–90% refuse rate based on moisture loss in drying. The report does not explain the change, so do not compare these years with earlier ones.
Inedible parts. KREI removed 42.9% of Korea’s fish and shellfish food supply as inedible in 2024, turning 61.5 kg per person into 35.1 kg.
Old and untraced numbers. The 68.4 kg seen online is MOF’s value for 2018 and 2021; 58.4 kg is FAO data for 2013–2015, cited by MOF in 2017. The Norwegian Seafood Council’s 61 kg has no year or source.
Common misconception: “Koreans eat three times the world average”
Setting MOF’s total against FAO’s world average of 20.7 kg for 2022 mixes two bases. FAO counts aquatic animals only, in live weight equivalent.
On a closer basis the claim roughly holds. Korea’s fish and shellfish supply before removing inedible parts was 66.1 kg per person in 2022, about 3.2 times FAO’s figure. The methods are not identical, so read the multiple as approximate. Setting KREI’s net 37.7 kg for 2022 against FAO’s whole-weight figure errs the other way, giving 1.8 times.
Is Korean seafood consumption rising or falling?
Falling since 2019. MOF’s series peaked at 70.2 kg per person in 2019 and reached 59.9 kg in 2024, down 14.7%. Fish and shellfish alone fell 16.4% over the same years, from 42.0 kg to 35.1 kg (KREI).
USDA reports that seafood consumption in Korea fell in every age group except people aged 60 and over between 2020 and 2023.
Is South Korea self-sufficient in seafood?
No. Korea’s fish and shellfish production equaled 56.2% of its domestic consumption in 2024 (provisional), according to KREI; the low point was 48.9% in 2019. MOF’s fishery products rate, 76.7% in 2024, most likely covers a broader product group. The analysis of Korea’s seafood self-sufficiency covers the 30-year trend.
What does this mean for exporters selling to Korea?
In 2024 Korea imported 2.24 million tonnes of fish and shellfish, 1.19 times its own production of 1.88 million tonnes (KREI, live weight basis). Per-person supply has fallen since 2019, so read any growth for a single species against a shrinking national total.
The species matter more than the national average. USDA names mackerel, squid, Alaska pollock, shrimp, flatfish, hairtail, crab, monkfish, eel, anchovy, oyster and octopus as Korea’s main species, with domestic supply of the top species falling short.
The Trends tab for frozen mackerel (HS 0303540000) charts Korea’s monthly import value and unit price, with a monthly table below. See also what seafood Korea imports most, the Korea seafood market size breakdown and the quarterly Korea seafood imports report.
Which figure should you cite?
Name the basis with the figure:
- Total seafood: “South Korea’s seafood consumption was 59.9 kg per person in 2024 (provisional), according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries’ e-Narajipyo indicator, based on the KREI Food Balance Sheet.”
- Fish and shellfish only: “South Korea’s fish and shellfish supply was 35.1 kg per person in 2024 (provisional, net of inedible parts), according to the Korea Rural Economic Institute’s Food Balance Sheet 2024.”
For country comparisons, use FAO data on both sides.
Look up Korea’s imports for your species
SEACHING, a Korea seafood trade data platform operated by LINKSUP, Inc. in Busan, shows Korea’s imports by 10-digit HS code, origin and month, from Korea Customs Service data.
- Korea’s seafood imports by species and month (free sign-up)
- Frozen mackerel import data (free sign-up)
- Frozen squid import data (free sign-up)
To see how much of your species Korea imports, month by month and by origin, query the data on SEACHING (free sign-up).
FAQ
Do Koreans eat a lot of seafood?
Yes. Korea’s fish and shellfish supply before removing inedible parts was 66.1 kg per person in 2022, roughly three times FAO’s world average of 20.7 kg (calculated from KREI and FAO data).
Where does the 60.9 kg figure come from?
USDA’s 60.9 kg for 2023 is 36.0 kg of fish and shellfish plus 24.9 kg of seaweed, from KREI’s preliminary 2023 data. MOF’s series now shows 60.7 kg for 2023.
Is South Korea self-sufficient in food?
No. KREI’s Food Balance Sheet 2024 puts Korea’s self-sufficiency at 56.2% for fish and shellfish and 18.8% for cereals in 2024 (provisional). For the origins of Korea’s seafood imports, see Korea’s fish imports by country.
Sources and method
- e-Narajipyo, fishery products consumption (per person per year) and self-sufficiency, indicator 1317 (MOF), statistical table 1999–2024, updated October 13, 2026; checked October 15, 2026
- KREI, Food Balance Sheet 2024 (E05-2025), published December 2025, attachment on e-Narajipyo; summary p.13, tables 3.1 and 3.4, self-sufficiency table p.251, refuse table note 77; 2024 values provisional; checked October 15, 2026
- KREI, Food Balance Sheet 2023 (E05-2024), published December 2024; table 3.2 (2022); checked October 15, 2026
- FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024, apparent consumption of aquatic foods, 2022 preliminary; checked October 15, 2026
- USDA FAS GAIN, Korea Seafood Market Update 2025 (KS2025-0046), November 25, 2025
- Korea Fisheries Economy, KMI Fisheries Outlook Center column, January 23, 2026
- Norwegian Seafood Council, South Korea country page, checked October 15, 2026
- Metro Seoul, MOF announcement citing FAO SOFIA 2016, February 12, 2017
- Method: the 24.8 kg inside MOF’s total is the food supply in KREI’s seaweeds row (1,284.3 thousand tonnes in 2024) divided by KREI’s 2024 population of 51,805,547. Whole-weight fish and shellfish per person is KREI’s food supply before refuse (3,419.0 thousand tonnes in 2022) divided by that year’s population. Percentage changes and ratios are calculated by the author from the published tables.
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